41 overs and nearly two sessions had gone by when India captain Rohit Sharma remembered he had Kuldeep Yadav in the XI for the fourth Test against England in Ranchi. The left-arm wrist spinner till then was just a fielder doing his best to save precious runs for his team. When you have spinners of the quality of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja who are in the top six (in terms of averages) among all bowlers in home Tests, it is a bit difficult to take the ball off their hands.
Rohit Sharma himself had agreed during the last home season. But late on Friday, long after stumps were called in Ranchi, if Rohit sat to introspect, he would be the first one to put his hand up and accept he perhaps underbowled his ‘third spinner’, in this case, Kuldeep Yadav.
Day 1 at Ranchi and Kuldeep Yadav underbowled
On Day 1 of the fourth Test, Kuldeep Yadav the second-most economical bowler on display, bowled just 10 overs out of India’s 90. That is three less than Mohammed Siraj, India’s most expensive bowler of the day. Kuldeep did not get a wicket but he was very impressive with his lines.
Those wondering, Ravindra Jadeja bowled 27 overs and Ashwin 22. And it was not as if both of them got a bag full of wickets. Yes, Jadeja did look threatening whenever he bowled if Rohit Sharma had introduced Kuldeep Yadav from the end where the left-arm spinner was getting all the purchase from, the story could well have been different.
This irked the likes of Former speedster RP Singh and commentator Aakash Chopra who expressed their views regarding the same in staunch words.
Kuldeep Yadav wasn’t used as he should have- Aakash Chopra
RP Singh reckons Rohit Sharma underutilized Kuldeep Yadav and overused Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin on the first day of the fourth Test between India and England in Ranchi on Friday, February 23. Joe Root’s unbeaten 106 off 226 helped England post 302-7 by Stumps. While Kuldeep was given only 10 overs on the day, Jadeja and Ashwin bowled 49 between them.
During a discussion on Colors Cineplex, RP Singh shared his thoughts on India’s bowling performance:
“The bowlers put in a lot of effort. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and both the fast bowlers put in a lot of effort. Siraj bowled better in his second spell than his first. The only thing I have a doubt about is that you didn’t use Kuldeep Yadav as much as you should have.
“Jadeja and Ashwin were overbowled and Kuldeep couldn’t bowl that much because of that, and this happens as well. When you have three spinners, and all three are wicket-takers, one of the bowlers is underbowled many times and that happened with Kuldeep here,” the former India seamer added.
Kuldeep went wicketless but conceded only 21 runs in his 10 overs. Jadeja and Ashwin returned figures of 1-55 and 1-83 in 27 and 22 overs respectively.
“Kuldeep Yadav was 100% introduced late” exclaims Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra too opined that Kuldeep Yadav was given the ball too late. He elaborated:
“It’s right, you are spoilt for choices when you have five bowlers. You get confused at times when you go to a buffet. Kuldeep Yadav was 100% introduced late. He could have been bowled a little earlier.”
However, the former India opener acknowledged that Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were bound to be preferred over the left-arm wrist-spinner.
“However, when you stick with your fast bowlers from one end for a long time, it’s a rotational policy at the other end. “In that rotational policy, one has taken more than 500 wickets, and the other is the Player of the Match of the last game, so you go first towards them,” Chopra stated.
Chopra noted that Kuldeep Yadav has been treated similarly earlier also and that it will continue to happen with him. He reasoned that the relatively inexperienced spinner is under the shadow of the far more experienced duo of Ashwin and Jadeja.
Kuldeep Yadav bowled just two spells on Day 1. The first one was for 7 overs towards the end of the second session when Joe Root and Ben Foakes had shut shop and he was given three overs right at fag end of the day’s play. England meanwhile, staged a great recovery after losing 5 for 112. An underfire Root (106*) dug deep to get to his 31st Test century and a record 10th against India to help the visitors reach 302/7 at stumps to give England advantage atleast on the first day at Ranchi.