‘I’m a little baffled that Kuldeep wasn’t picked…’: Sunil Gavaskar questions Team India’s selection for England Test

India made three changes to the squad after the first Test, bringing in batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, spin all-rounder Washington Sundar, and pacer Akash Deep into the playing XI.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar expressed his disappointment with India’s playing XI for the second Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Wednesday. The team made three changes from the first Test, bringing in batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, spin all-rounder Washington Sundar, and fast bowler Akash Deep.

However, specialist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was left out of the squad. Gavaskar believed that the conditions at Edgbaston could have suited Kuldeep’s style of bowling. “I’m a little baffled that Kuldeep wasn’t picked, especially on a pitch like this, where everyone says there’s a bit more turn,” he said on Sony Sports (as quoted by Sportskeeda).

“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.” Gavaskar sais

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

After the toss on Wednesday, Gill told former England batter Michael Atherton that Bumrah was rested to manage his workload management.

“Just to manage his workload. We did get a good break and this is an important match for us. But the third Test being at Lord’s, we think there’ll be more in that pitch so we’ll use him there,” Gill said.

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