The Indian team management remains rigid in its plans for the playing XI. The fascination with having a long batting lineup continued even in the first ODI against England, which led to Kuldeep Yadav warming the bench for the series opener at Edgbaston. Washington Sundar and Axar Patel were chosen as the spinners for the first ODI; however, their inclusion was mainly due to the duo being multi-faceted cricketers who can lend support with both bat and ball.
Under head coach Gautam Gambhir, India have always opted for a long batting lineup and a quality bowling attack. The Men in Blue played four frontline bowlers – Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar, and the task of being the fifth bowler fell on the shoulders of Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube.
The decision to leave out Kuldeep from the playing XI didn’t impress former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, who is also the head coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL.
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“You want batting depth, but not at the expense of taking wickets. At the end of the day, you win games by picking up wickets. Anyone will tell you that. A team that reached the IPL final did so because it had a bowling attack capable of taking wickets. If your attack can’t do that, it doesn’t matter how much batting you have, you’ll struggle,” Nayar said on JioHotstar immediately after the toss for the 1st ODI.
“In this line-up, you’ve got Prasidh Krishna, who can take wickets, and Jasprit Bumrah, who can take wickets. Gurnoor Brar is an unknown quantity at this level, and we’re hopeful he’ll do well,” he added.
‘X-factor’
Earlier, Kuldeep was left out of the T20I squad for the series against Ireland and England. Series defeats in both contests led fans to believe that the management would learn from its mistakes and do away with bits-and-pieces cricketers and go with specialists. However, it wasn’t meant to be.
“Beyond that, your other bowling options are more economical than attacking. Axar Patel picks up wickets when batters take risks against him, when the pitch offers assistance, or when they try to force the scoring rate,” said Nayar.
“For me, having Kuldeep Yadav gives you that X-factor in the middle overs,” he added.
Former India batter Parthiv Patel also agreed with Nayar, saying the management made a defensive move.
“This is a defensive move,” said Parthiv as he agreed with Nayar.
In the first ODI between India and England, Harry Brook won the toss and opted to bat first at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Brar provided the opening two breakthroughs to the Men in Blue, dismissing English openers Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett.