Former Indian cricketer R Ashwin sympathised with spinner Kuldeep Yadav after the first Test against Sri Lanka, stating that he is in a ‘difficult situation’ as a third spinner as well. He had a poor show at the Galle International Stadium, where he claimed only one wicket, compared to the 14 wickets picked up by his bowling partners Manav Suthar and Ravindra Jadeja.
“We could comfortably see that Kuldeep Yadav was the third spinner in this bowling attack. He was the third spinner even when Jadeja and I were playing. It is not easy to play as a third or fourth spinner in the playing XI. It is also not easy to bowl with the Kookaburra ball in Sri Lanka after the 30-over mark. Honestly, if you have to bowl Kuldeep in these conditions it has to be in the first 30 overs. You cannot bring him late into the attack, and a spinner will never get rhythm with short spells,” R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
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Already, as it is, his confidence is not that high. When KL Rahul came out to lead the side when Shubman Gill was off the field, he brought Kuldeep Yadav into the attack. So you can see a couple of things from this. Maybe he is not the preferred priority for Shubman Gill as a captain. It is a very, very difficult situation that Kuldeep finds himself in, I have all the sympathies. Did his skill go away? That must not have happened. You have kept him out game after game and even in the game he is given a chance, he is not used properly, it is not the player’s fault,” R Ashwin continued.
He also added that there might be a temptation to drop Kuldeep Yadav from the Indian playing XI for an off-spinner like Saransh Jain, but he also urged the team management to stick with the same team for the second Test as well.
“You can go with the same playing XI for the second Test, unless you want a third seamer. If you wanted to play Saransh Jain, it should have been this match. If you have won the Test, what is the need to make any change? I don’t see a reason why you need to make a change to the playing XI,” R Ashwin concluded.
