Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra believes if the Rohit Sharma-led team had the services of Kuldeep Yadav in the Test squad, they could have played him in the second Test match against the West Indies on a pitch like Queen’s Park, Trinidad. Chopra feels Kuldeep could have been handy for the visitors on the Trinidad pitch, which has been on the slow side.
The renowned commentator reckons a wrist spinner could have added more venom to the playing XI as compared to a finger spinner. In fact, Kuldeep Yadav was added to India’s limited-overs squad for the series against the West Indies but he was ignored for the Test squad.
Kuldeep has impressed in his young Test career, scalping 34 wickets in eight Test matches at an average of 21.56.
The left-arm wrist spinner played his last Test match for India against Bangladesh in 2022. In that Test match, the left-arm spinner took a total of eight wickets but didn’t play in the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia.
Chopra reckons playing three fast bowlers was a mistake and India should have backed their spinners on such a pitch. India replaced Shardul Thakur and gave debut cap to Bengal pacer Mukesh Kumar. However, Chopra feels playing Axar Patel would have made more sense while talking on his YouTube Channel.
“Mukesh Kumar got his first wicket, which was very good because the first wicket is important. You got disciplined bowling from Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj – everyone. One thing was definitely there this was not the pitch where you should have probably played three fast bowlers.
“India should have played Axar Patel here and if you had a bowler named Kuldeep Yadav in your squad, you could have played him on such pitches. When the pitch is dead, a wrist spinner can do a better job than a finger-spinner.”
The reputed commentator added that West Indies batters’ defensive approach show they are looking to play for a draw.
“You cannot ensure a contest. What we saw in Trinidad is that only one team is trying to win, the other team is trying to play, that they will continue playing and the result be damned. So that is a problem for sure.”
West Indies ended the third day’s play at 229-5 and they still trail by another 209 runs.
