Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar was surprised to note the exclusion of Kuldeep Yadav in the second Test match against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Dhaka on Thursday. Jaydev Unadkat was brought in place of Kuldeep Yadav as there is a bit of grass covering on the pitch.
However, Kuldeep was unlucky to get dropped despite performing at his best in the first Test match at Chhatogram. The wrist-spinner had returned with his best Test bowling figures of 5-40 in the first innings and backed it with 3-73 in the second essay.
Thus, the Uttar Pradesh spinner had match figures of 8-113 and he was deservingly awarded the Player of the Match. Furthermore, Kuldeep scored 40 runs in the first innings to help India get past the 400-run mark. But despite coming up with such a match-winning performance, he was dropped from the team’s final XI.
Speaking to Sony Sports Network, Gavaskar said: “To drop a Man of the Match is absolutely unbelievable…and unbelievable is a very gentle word. I want to use more harsh words. You drop a player who picked eight out of 20 wickets in the last game and has two other spinners. One of those two should have been dropped and he should have played no matter what.”
Meanwhile, Indian captain KL Rahul revealed the reTitle Page Separator Site title ason to play Jaydev Unadkat in place of Kuldeep Yadav. Unadkat is playing after missing 118 Test matches for India. The left-arm seamer also dismissed the first Test match centurion Zakir Hasan.
Rahul said at the toss, “We made one change – Kuldeep Yadav misses out and Jaydev Unadkat comes in. The unfortunate decision for us to leave him (Kuldeep) out but it’s an opportunity for Unadkat.”
“Not sure what to make of the surface. There is some grass, but it’s generally good to bat here. There is generally some bounce here and some help for both pacers and spinners. We aren’t sure what to expect.”
India’s playing XI for the second Test: KL Rahul (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.
