Former Indian cricketers Sanjay Manjrekar and Deep Dasgupta have recommended a few changes for Team India ahead of the second Test against England, which is set to begin on Wednesday, July 2 at Edgbaston. While India’s top and middle-order batsmen played admirably at Headingley in the series opener, their bowling fell short as England chased down a 371 in the fourth innings.
Former Indian wicketkeeper Dasgupta believes Kuldeep Yadav should be picked in the playing XI, given the match conditions.
“Looking forward to Birmingham, which is usually a batting friendly venue; I’d like to see Kuldeep there,” Dasgupta remarked on JioHotstar.
Dasgupta believes India’s batting line is already doing well, thus putting in Kuldeep in place of Shardul Thakur will boost the bowling attack.
“And now, having your top five in terms of runs means you don’t have to worry about contributions from your No. 8 with the bat. So I believe it would allow someone like Kuldeep to play at No.8 without worrying too much about how much he’ll contribute with the bat,” Dasgupta said.
Dasgupta also advised moving Karun Nair to No. 3 in the batting order, freeing up a position for Nitish Kumar Reddy, an all-rounder who can contribute effectively with both bat and ball in the lower order.
“Get Karun Nair (at No. 3),” Dasgupta added. “Because Karun Nair has scored the majority of his runs (at that position). We keep talking about first-class careers and everything at No. 3. “He also batted for India A against the England Lions at number three,” Dasgupta remarked.
“That makes room for someone like Nitish at No.6, who, if necessary, can do a few overs of seam up. He’s been training extremely hard on his bowling. “So you also have a fourth seamer,” he said.
Manjrekar agreed with Dasgupta’s ideas for both modifications, emphasising that India requires great bowlers to perform in English conditions.
“Nitish Kumar Reddy was included in my team for the first test. And Kuldeep Yadav has to return. “I’m sorry to say, but Shardul Thakur has to leave,” Manjrekar remarked.
“India will have to make a difficult decision that, even in English circumstances, they go with quality bowlers, and if the best bowlers happen to be two spinners, go for it because you don’t have the luxury of having Shami and some of the other bowlers to choose from. So I’d go maybe one seamer short and bring Kuldeep Yadav in,” he explained.
Manjrekar noted that English summers have been drier in recent years, potentially allowing India to accommodate one extra spinner in the starting XI.
“Global warming has made English summers increasingly dry. So, maybe it’s a means to introduce spin to England. And don’t forget that Ben Stokes has entirely transformed his mindset and turned it into common-sense cricket thinking. We have to go back to the days when India would always play three spinners, whether it was against New Zealand or England,” he said.
India
