India’s five-match Test tour of England got off to a poor start when they lost the opening Test at Headingley, Leeds, by five wickets. With the exception of Jasprit Bumrah, the bowling department was disappointing, even though the hitters performed admirably.
Kuldeep Yadav should be in the Indian team’s squad for the second Test, which begins on Wednesday, July 2, at Edgbaston, Birmingham, according to a number of experts and supporters. The most recent person to argue that is Michael Clarke, who believes that Kuldeep’s ability to take wickets will benefit India.
“Bowling-wise, I do not want to be hard on any individual, but I think they’ve got to play Kuldeep Yadav. I think it is an absolute no-brainer. He’s a wicket-taker and would have offered a lot more than what the attack did in this Test,” the 2015 World Cup-winning captain said while speaking on the Beyond23 Podcast.
India frequently stacks their side with a wide range of batting options, Clarke observed. To win Test matches in England, the former Australian cricket player said that the team captained by Shubman Gill should concentrate on taking 20 wickets.
“India have done this for a while. They care so much about extra batting or stacking the batting deep, and they are willing to risk picking their number one spinner to do that. I think to win in England, you’ve got to look to take 20 wickets.”
Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke says India’s execution needs improvement after first Test loss
Michael Clarke praised Bumrah’s performance in the first Test, but noted that the other pacers were inconsistent and will need to improve their execution in future games.
“Bumrah’s a star, he’s leading that attack. But the other three pacers, yes, at times they bowled well, but they need to find more ways of taking wickets. Their execution probably needs to be better.”
Michael Clarke
The former cricketer turned commentator was not happy with the lackluster display of Ravindra Jadeja and especially when the Saurashtra all-rounder failed to make the rough outside the left-handers off-stump pay.
“Jadeja didn’t have the impact I thought he might. Particularly in the second innings, I expected him to exploit the rough outside the left-hander’s off-stump. I thought he bowled a little too straight.”
Michael Clarke
