Playing Kuldeep Yadav could reduce India’s dependence on Jasprit Bumrah to provide the goods with the ball in England, former captain Mohammad Azharuddin has said. India are trailing 1-0 to England in the five-match series going into the second Test, which will be played at Edgbaston from Wednesday.
“They are too dependent on Bumrah. It’s not easy because you need more experienced bowlers, and they should play Kuldeep Yadav,” Azharuddin told PTI. There was a sharp drop off in pressure whenever India had to take Bumrah off the attack during much of the first Test and the same was the case during India’s last long-format series in Australia earlier this year.
Azharuddin also noted that the late collapses that India suffered went a long way in them losing the first Test. England won the match by five wickets despite having to chase a target of 371. India had as many as five centurions, with captain Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul all scoring one each and Rishabh Pant scoring centuries in both innings. Additionally, Jasprit Bumrah had even taken a five-wicket haul in the first England innings.
India lost as many as six wickets for just 31 runs in the second innings, going from 333/4 to 364 all out. Their last five wickets contributed a total of 43 runs across both innings while England’s added 189 in their first innings.
“We lost because of batting collapse, but anyways now they have to pick the right players and bowling has to be perfect,” he noted. The 62-year-old defended new Test captain Gill, saying he should be given enough time to prove his mettle. “This is his just first match as a captain, you just can’t talk about captaincy. It’s too early to talk about captaincy,” he remarked. “We should give him a fair chance and he has just taken over. So, you should give him a lot of time and support. We cannot just complain and criticise players like that,” said Azharuddin