Former Indian cricketer Yograj Singh has sparked a fresh debate by claiming that India could have whitewashed England 5-0 in their recently concluded Test series if young left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh had been included in the playing XI. Under Shubman Gill’s leadership, India drew the five-match series 2-2, with their most memorable triumph coming in a thrilling final Test victory away from home.

Arshdeep, who earned his maiden Test call-up for the series, has been in exceptional form in domestic red-ball cricket and gained valuable experience playing county cricket in England. However, India opted to field a pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Akash Deep, while injury concerns during the series forced them to draft in Anshul Kamboj, who made his debut in the fourth Test at Old Trafford.

“Even in England, we could have won 5-0 if Arshdeep was part of the squad. We might have clinched the series 3-2, had we not lost narrowly at Lord’s by 21 runs, because our tailenders were pushing hard,” Yograj Singh told InsideSport.

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The former cricketer emphasized the importance of developing bowlers into competent all-rounders, citing Sourav Ganguly’s era as an example. “They couldn’t achieve it because we never gave them chances with the bat. If we can groom bowlers into all-rounders, India can once again build a team like Sourav Ganguly’s,” he added.

India’s lower order came under heavy scrutiny after crumbling in the run chase at Lord’s, but redeemed itself in the series finale, helping seal a memorable win. Yograj drew a parallel with Kapil Dev’s transformation into one of India’s greatest all-rounders.

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“The issue is that we’re not encouraging bowlers to bat. Kapil Dev was never given enough batting practice in the nets. I kept shouting, ‘Kapil ko batting karao (Make Kapil bat),’” Yograj Singh recalled.

His comments have reignited discussions around India’s squad balance and the importance of nurturing multi-dimensional cricketers ahead of future overseas challenges.