Former India captain Rahul Dravid spoke on the exclusion of wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s exclusion from the Test squad for the long tour of the UK and felt form issues and inability to bat went against the youngster.
Kuldeep wasn’t included when the senior India selection panel confirmed the squad last week for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand and also the five-Test series versus England.
Kuldeep’s sacking followed a prolonged absence from the playing XI in the last two years, with Dravid saying “he’s fallen over” in the last couple of seasons across formats.
Dravid said he agreed with the entire 20-man touring party announced by the selectors, and Kuldeep’s is the only spot that could be debated.
“It (the squad) does seem balanced. It’s a 20-member squad. The only other one who could have merited selection would’ve been Kuldeep Yadav, but he’s fallen away over the last little bit. Also, with the kind of recent performances from Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar, they’re clear about the kind of balance they want in the squad,”
Dravid said during a webinar organized by Live Aid India, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
For conditions where fast-bowling will be the dominant form of operation, India’s spin department includes two mainstays Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and back-ups like Axar Patel, Washington Sundar. Sundar and Axar have pipped Kuldeep in the pecking order through performances during the tour of Australia and the home series versus England in February-March.
Dravid said Axar and Sundar have emerged as like-for-like replacements in case Ashwin and Jadeja are unfit for a Test match or two as they also offer decent batting ability besides being frontline spinners.
“With both Ashwin and Jadeja adding value with the bat and having like-for-like replacements in Axar and Washy [Washington Sundar], they’re clear about the direction they want to take,”
“It lengthens their batting and all four finger spinners here allow them to do that. The make-up of the squad tells me they know their best XI even before they leave from here,”
he added.
