The combination of R Ashwin and Axar Patel has proved to be more than lethal for the English team. The duo has done more than what we expected in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja. Yes, to answer to all the ‘Pitch Critiques’ out there, the track did help them buy it was the same for every bowler who bowled there.
Now, Patel, as left-arm spinner brings a perfect replacement for Jadeja on the face of it. However, he performing amazingly well in the two tests that he has played has totally eliminated the chances of a third spinner in the team in form of Kuldeep Yadav.
He was not picked in the team for more than two years since his five-wicket haul against Australia in Sydney in 2019. The chinaman was given a go in the second Chennai Test against England – he managed to get a couple of wickets in whatever few overs he got to bowl. But was dropped again in favour of Sundar in the third Test as the Tamil Nadu off-spinner provides extra batting advantage.
Speaking about this in the Virtual Press Conference held on the eve of 4th Test, here is what skipper Virat Kohli Say:
“Kuldeep is bowling better than he has ever bowled before and his headspace is excellent. He isn’t playing right now due to combinations of the side, we are wanting an extra batting option due to the likes of Washington and Axar being inexperienced as of now,” Virat Kohli said in a virtual press conference.
The skipper went on to talk about the importance of players like Pujara and Rahane to the Indian Test Team.
“Cheteshwar Pujara is aware what he needs to work on. He was previously criticized for not playing well away from home now he is being criticized for a few bad performances at home. I have said this before, he and Jinks (Rahane) are our two most important Test batsmen,” Virat Kohli stated.
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