Madan Lal feels India has rushed Ishant Sharma after injury.
Former Indian cricketer and coach Madan Lal is not happy with the team combination that Team India have gone in with for the first Test against England in Chennai.
According to Lal, India should have played 3 pacers instead of 2 and picked only 2 spinners in their XI. They also missed a trick by rushing Ishant Sharma into the XI after he has just recovered from an injury. Three-Test old Mohammed Siraj should have played ahead of Ishant in Chennai for Lal.
IND v ENG 2021: Harbhajan Singh surprised with Kuldeep Yadav's exclusion from first Test
Madan Lal told Sports Tak, "I think India have not played with a balanced bowling attack. They should have played with three pacers and two spinners. Ishant Sharma has only just returned from an injury, so it would have been wise to play him after 1-2 Tests. They also dropped Mohammed Siraj, who bowled so well in Australia."
As India have picked Washington Sundar as their third spinner, Lal felt that the Indian line-up wanted batting depth. Therefore, he suggested that Shardul Thakur should have been in the XI and also wanted Kuldeep Yadav in place of Shahbaz Nadeem.
The 69-year-old said, "If you wanted to bat deep, you could have played Shardul Thakur ahead of Washington Sundar and could have gone with Kuldeep Yadav over Shahbaz Nadeem."
With Ishant Sharma remaining wicketless and Nadeem picking just one wicket until England got to 400, Madan Lal's suggestions look fair so far into the Test match.
(With inputs from Sports Tak)