Legendary off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has slammed India’s decision to leave out Kuldeep Yadav for the penultimate Test against in Manchester, suggesting the team’s continued obsession with batting depth has come at the cost of wicket-taking options.

Ashwin's assessment came after England openers made a mockery of the Indian bowling attack on Day 2 at Old Trafford.

In reply to India’s first innings score of 358, Ben Duckett (94 off 100) and Zak Crawley (84 off 113) gave the hosts a flying start, adding 166 runs in just 195 balls. Their whirlwind display propelled England to 225/2 in 46 overs at stumps.

“If somebody had told me that Kuldeep Yadav would not be playing any part in the first four Tests, I would have been very, very surprised,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. “Unfortunately, it is our obsession with batting and looking for those 20-30 extra runs.”

Ashwin claimed that India missed a trick by picking Shardul Thakur, who replaced injured Nitish Kumar Reddy in the lineup.

“If you are only planning to give Shardul Thakur this many overs, and expect 20-30 runs from him – I love Shardul Thakur, I like him a lot – but if this is the usage point, why can’t you consider Kuldeep Yadav? It is just blowing my head away.”

Kuldeep, who has 56 wickets to his name in 13 Tests at an average of 22.16, is considered as someone who could have troubled England’s explosive top-order.

“I am not saying that Kuldeep would have picked up five wickets if he were playing, but it plays with a batter’s mind,” Ashwin said. “He would have at least picked one wicket – maybe given 40 runs – but broken the opening partnership. I feel India missed someone like Kuldeep Yadav on day two.”

Ashwin added: “Gone are those days in England; the advantage of 20-30 runs is gone... picking up 2-3 wickets is even more critical than those 30-40 runs.”

India are currently 1-2 behind in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. They can’t afford to lose any more matches or the five-match series will be gone.