Ganguly unhappy with Xi for 2 Tests

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly claimed that he was surprised that Kuldeep Yadav wasn’t included in the playing XI for ENG vs IND 2nd Test. The leg spinner continued to warm the bench while India made 3 changes to their line-up. Shardul Thakur, Sai Sudharsan and Jasprit Bumrah were replaced by Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Akash Deep in the XI.

Ganguly spells game plan for India after leaving Kuldeep out

Speaking on Sony Sports Network, Ganguly opined that he was baffled by India’s decision to leave Kuldeep out, adding that they weren’t exactly playing their best spinners. He said that it would have been wise to play Yadav on a turning pitch such as Edgbaston.

“I am not sure whether India are playing their two best spinners. England have fielded first, I am surprised with that. I think this is India’s best possible chance at the moment. Put runs on the board and hopefully it works out. I’m a little baffled that Kuldeep wasn’t picked, because on a pitch like this, where everybody says there’s a little more turn,” Ganguly said.

Further, Ganguly pointed out that following the 1st Test, India needed to make amends to their bowling combination and not the batting since ample number of runs were scored. He dubbed the inclusion of Nitish and Washington in the playing XI as unnecessary.

“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. So, where you needed strengthening was in the wicket-taking department, not so much in the batting,” he added.