Team India suffered a five-wicket defeat in the first Test against England at Headingley despite their batters scoring five centuries in the match. The visitors failed to defend a 371-run target, conceding a 1-0 lead in the five-Test rubber.
This outcome has put the Indian bowlers under scrutiny. Barring Jasprit Bumrah, who claimed a five-wicket haul in the first innings, no one managed to leave a mark.
India missed the service of a second spinner in the series opener and assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said the team is likely to change its combination for the second Test, set to begin on July 2 in Brimingham.
Just like the Leeds wicket, which was full of runs, expectations are that the pitch at Edgbaston for the second Test will again be good for batting, bringing the spinners into play.
While Doeschate did not reveal if India will compromise on their batting depth by playing Kuldeep Yadav ahead of Washington Sundar, he came close to confirming that two spinners will be part of the playing XI.
"There is a very strong chance of playing two spinners. It's just which two we play. And that goes back to the previous question about juggling the batting depth. All three spinners are bowling very nicely," Doeschate said, as quoted by PTI.
"Washi's batting very nicely. So it's just which combination do we go with? All-rounder spinner or the out-and-out spinner? And you have to play the bowling all-rounder again. So there's so many different variables.
"The wicket's got 11 mm grass on at the moment. 11 or 12 mm. But it's quite grassy and patchy. It's quite dry underneath. But there's also rain forecast for Wednesday. So again, trying to weigh up the two options of how we want to go attacking-wise. But I'm pretty sure two spinners will play in this Test."
India preferred Shardul Thakur over Nitish Kumar Reddy for the fourth pacer's slot at Headingley. Thakur failed to leave a mark as seam-bowling all-rounder, claiming two wickets and scoring five runs across the two innings.
Doeschate hinted that Nitish might be given a chance at Edgbaston. "He's very close to getting a game. Obviously, he was fantastic in Australia. Coming into the team and playing the way he did.
“We just felt on balance for the last game, we wanted to go with the bowling all-rounder. Which we thought Shardul was slightly ahead on the bowling front. We're looking at ways of rejigging the puzzle, so we can get a batting all-rounder in.
"Nitish is our premium batting all-rounder at the moment. So I would say it's a very good chance to play this test," the former Dutch cricketer said.
(With PTI Inputs)
