Amid the barrage of criticism for making as many as three changes in the playing XI for the second Test match against England in Birmingham, which included resting Jasprit Bumrah and ignoring Kuldeep Yadav again, India head coach Gautam Gambhir finally found support from his former teammate Irfan Pathan.
The move to deny Kuldeep a spot in the playing XI and select a second spin-bowling all-rounder, Washington Sundar, to strengthen the lower-order batting, left Sunil Gavaskar baffled. He questioned the logic behind Sundar's inclusion, which was explained as a move to strengthen the lower-order batting, which was majorly at fault during India's five-wicket loss in the series opener in Leeds.
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"If your top-order batters are not giving you the runs you expect, then Washington at seven or Nitish Reddy at eight won't necessarily fix that, because those weren't the batters who failed you in the first Test. You scored 830 runs. You didn't score 380 in two innings — it was 830-plus. That's a lot of runs," he said on Sony Sports Network. “So, where you needed strengthening was in the wicket-taking department, not so much in the batting.”
{{/usCountry}}"If your top-order batters are not giving you the runs you expect, then Washington at seven or Nitish Reddy at eight won't necessarily fix that, because those weren't the batters who failed you in the first Test. You scored 830 runs. You didn't score 380 in two innings — it was 830-plus. That's a lot of runs," he said on Sony Sports Network. “So, where you needed strengthening was in the wicket-taking department, not so much in the batting.”
{{/usCountry}}However, Pathan did not buy this narrative. He rather lashed out at the "negative" reaction behind the move to include Sundar. He backed the all-rounder to vindicate the selection with the bat and ball at Edgbaston.
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“I’m not buying the narrative that playing Washington Sundar is a negative move. It’s actually an attempt to fix what’s been missing for a while — lower-order resistance. And let’s not forget, he will contribute with the ball too. Specially vs English batters,” he tweeted.
India also made two other changes in the playing XI, largely to compensate the absence of Bumrah, who was rested to manage his workload. Sai Sudharsan, who made his debut in Leeds, paid the price as he was benched to make way for fast-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, while Akash Deep replaced the 31-year-old.
India trail 0-1 in the series against England, having lost in Leeds.