Ahead of the second Test against England, Indian skipper Shubman Gill said that the strategy to play two spinners would not be a “bad option” if the wicket is the same as the previous Test match at Leeds.
India vs England: India Trail 0-1 After Tough Leeds Test
Going into the second Test at Birmingham, India is trailing 0-1. During the last game, India failed to defend a 371-run target. They went in with four fast bowlers – Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, and Mohammed Siraj – and only one spinner in Ravindra Jadeja.
The pacers, except for Bumrah, were expensive, leaking runs at a high rate.
That, along with poor lower-order batting, hurt India’s chances.
Kuldeep Yadav and Spin Options for Birmingham Test
India’s current squad includes spin bowling options in all-rounder Washington Sundar and attacking left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, along with Ravindra Jadeja.
Speaking ahead of the Birmingham Test, Gill said the possibility of using two spinners would depend on the pitch conditions.
Shubman Gill Backs Extra Spinner in English Conditions
“It is not common to see two spinners in England. But the weather was not typical,” Gill said in the pre-match press conference.
“It rained a lot and the sun was shining. In the last match also, if we had an extra spinner in the 4th inning, the game could have been better. There were some patches in the wicket which we could have exploited,” he explained.
Spinner’s Role vs Fast Bowlers in Match Control
Gill mentioned that whenever Jadeja bowled, it felt like the team had better control.
He pointed out that it was easier for spinners to contain runs compared to pacers, especially when the ball gets old and stops swinging.
“The wickets were also good for batting. So, if the fast bowlers are not creating enough chances, then we feel that maybe a second spinner on these kinds of wickets will at least contain a run till the second new ball comes.”
“Looking at the last match, I felt that if the wicket is going to be similar to how it was in the last match, then a second spinner would be a bad option,” he concluded.
India’s Test squad for England series:
Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
(With Inputs From ANI)
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