Three days removed from their so-near-yet-so-far moment against England at Lord’s, the Indian cricket team hit the ground running in Beckenham for some practice, where the decision-makers are expected to make a few calls regarding the remaining two Tests against England for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. India are trailing 1-2 in the series, a scoreline which could have been 3-0 had India not let slip the crucial moments. They have won at least 35 of the 45 sessions played thus far, if not more, and still, being behind will prompt head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill to take some steps.
With the next Test starting Wednesday in Manchester, the first thing India would want to look at is their Playing XI. In all probability, Karun Nair has played his last Test of the tour, if not his career. Despite showing promise, Nair is the only batter in the Indian top order to have not scored a single half-century, and he could very well be stepping aside for either Sai Sudharsan or Abhimanyu Easwaran. While Nair's exit is expected to be a sure-shot call, one change which former Australia captain Michael Clarke wants to see India make is to bring Kuldeep Yadav. The Australian 2015 World Cup-winning skipper also reserved the highest of praise for Ravindra Jadeja, but rued the lack of support at the other end.
'I have said it openly…'
"India can hold their heads high, particularly Jadeja, but again, look, I have said it openly. I would still like to see Kuldeep Yadav in that XI. Bring him in. But now I don't know how. Washington Sundar bowled brilliantly, scored some handy runs. Jadeja's batting has been phenomenal. He has saved India on a number of occasions, won India games on a number of occasions. I think if we had somebody hold the other end and didn't get out, he would have gotten them home. I felt for him. And, I felt for India as well. Games like that you would," he said on the Beyond23 Podcast.
{{/usCountry}}"India can hold their heads high, particularly Jadeja, but again, look, I have said it openly. I would still like to see Kuldeep Yadav in that XI. Bring him in. But now I don't know how. Washington Sundar bowled brilliantly, scored some handy runs. Jadeja's batting has been phenomenal. He has saved India on a number of occasions, won India games on a number of occasions. I think if we had somebody hold the other end and didn't get out, he would have gotten them home. I felt for him. And, I felt for India as well. Games like that you would," he said on the Beyond23 Podcast.
{{/usCountry}}The left-arm wrist-spinner has yet to play a part in this series, which is a bit of a puzzle because he is India's only specialist spinner in the squad. That India has gone ahead with Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar is part of their strategy to have batting depth. But how long can they stick to this template and leave Kuldeep out remains to be seen. Clarke, however, reckons giving Kuldeep a game now can be tough because Washington Sundar scored 40 runs and picked up four wickets. What does India do?