Kuldeep Yadav was once again ignored from the Indian playing XI which took the field in the first Test against Chennai. The much-awaited Test series finally got underway, however, the mystery spinner’s omission from the playing XI raised a few eyebrows. The Indian team suffered a blow with allrounder Axar Patel getting ruled out of the first Test after complaining of pain in his left knee at the training session on Thursday. Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir who has been a big advocate of Kuldeep’s inclusion in the Indian team expressed his disappointment of his omission from the Chennai Test.
The BCCI announced the inclusion of Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Chahar in the squad. But when the playing XI was announced for the first Test by skipper Kohli, Nadeem made it into the team along with spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar, but Kuldeep was left out.
Also Read: Cricket Fraternity Reacts To Kuldeep Yadav’s Ommission From First Test vs England
Meanwhile, Kuldeep’s KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir has reacted to the mystery spinner’s omission from the first Test against England. The left-arm spinner has not been a part of 13 Test matches for India despite being in the squad since playing his last Test.
Unfortunate For Kuldeep Yadav To Miss Chennai Test: Gautam Gambhir
“A little unfortunate on Kuldeep to be honest. I thought they should have actually picked Kuldeep against England. A wrist spinner is a rare commodity. He has been with the team, he hasn’t played any cricket so Kuldeep would have been a great asset,” Gautam Gambhir told Cricbuzz.
Also Read: India vs England 2021: First Two Test In Chennai To Be Played Behind Closed Doors
Gautam Gambhir further said that India opted for two off-spinners to add depth to their batting line-up. Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar provide the much-needed balance in the line-up in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja due to their credentials with the bat apart from their bowling skills.
“A lot of time we have seen how a wrist spinner can turn the game. It’s a little unfortunate and a bit surprised as well that they are playing with two off-spinners. Yes probably because they want more depth in the batting at no.7 and no.8. Again a big surprise was Ishant Sharma because he hasn’t played a lot of red-ball cricket,” Gambhir added.
