'Who's making these calls? Gill, Agarkar or...': Gambhir grilled for wanting to 'prove everyone wrong' with Kuldeep axe

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

Kuldeep Yadav risks becoming one of the rare cricketers who might go through an entire five-match Test series without playing a single game. The India wrist-spinner, who did not find a place in the Playing XI of the first four Tests, is in danger of suffering the same fate in the series-deciding fifth Test too, which starts at The Oval tomorrow. London's Kia Oval, home of Surrey cricket, has a history of assisting spinners, but Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, the two existing spinners in the team, did exceptionally well a few days ago in Manchester, and going by the looks of it, barring a couple of forced changes, India are likely to remain unchanged. From left: Gautam Gambhir, Ajit Agarkar and Shubman Gill(AFP)
Ideally, Sanjay Manjrekar wants Kuldeep to play, but as per his sources, the wrist-spinner may continue to warm the bench. There was only one case for Kuldeep's inclusion, in place of Shardul Thakur, but even though he went wicketless at Old Trafford, his crucial knock of 41 runs helped India get to their first-innings total of 358. Considering Gambhir's template of wanting to have utility players in the team, Shardul could well be persisted with, leaving no place for Kuldeep yet again.
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"Sometimes you might think you get carried away with the batting form of batters because who could have thought that Washy could be a possible No. 5 in a Test match? And Jadeja as No. 6, almost batting like a pure batter. But India will have to start trusting their batting line-up despite Rishabh Pant not being a part of it. And Kuldeep Yadav will have to come back. There have been so many moments in this series where you would have imagined Kuldeep being part of the Indian bowling attack," Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo.
"We have talked about the moments when India could make a difference and win a game. And that's where Kuldeep Yadav could have been really handy. So, he comes in, and Shardul Thakur sits out. But here is what I am hearing. You might see Shardul Thakur playing, and this comes from people who know the Indian coach well. But for me, it [Kuldeep playing] is a no-brainer."
'Who makes the big calls?' Manjrekar wants to know
It would be a shame if Kuldeep ends the series without playing a single Test, which prompts Manjrekar to wonder who is calling the shots, especially in picking India's Playing XI. The former India batter-turned broadcaster went on record to say that he is not a fan of Gautam Gambhir's theory of playing bowlers who can bat. Instead, Manjrekar is old school, stressing the need to have specialist bowlers who can pick 20 wickets and win matches.
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"We will never know who is actually making the big calls of deciding the Playing XI. Is it the captain or the coach? The chairman of selectors also has an important say. But you have to say that Gautam Gambhir could be the one with the strongest voice to pick the Playing XI. Because we saw the same flavour in Australia. Sometimes, what happens is that when a selection backfires, you want to keep playing a player just to prove everyone wrong. I have never agreed with this approach of picking somebody for their second skill. If Shardul Thakur plays again, you would think that maybe he just puts in a performance like Washington Sundar. It's unfortunate that Kuldeep Yadav doesn't play," he added.