Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar while scrutinizing options for Virat Kohli-led Team India for the upcoming third Test match between India and England, a pink-ball Test, said that left-arm leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav may find himself out of the team.
After being overlooked in Australia and the first Test match between India and England, where team management surprised everyone and went in with Shahbaz Nadeem who was drafted into the squad on the morning of the first Test-match in place of injured Akshar Patel.
However, in the second Test-match, which India won by 317 runs, Kuldeep Yadav was finally drafted into the Indian XI after more than 2 years and returned with the match figures of 2/41.
With the series being leveled at 1-1 the focus now shifts onto the third and fourth Tests that will be played in the new Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad.
Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar said that India can slot in Hardik Pandya if he is fit to bowl and added that India will definitely go with three dealers and two spinners.
IND v ENG 2021: Team management not looking at Kuldeep Yadav's numbers, says his coach Kapil Pandey
'I'm not sure if Hardik Pandya is fit enough to bowl because if he is, he can also slot in and India might actually go with a combination depending on the surface. I don't know what the surface at the new Motera will be like, but my feeling is that they will definitely go with three seam bowlers and two spinners," Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports.
Gavaskar further said that chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav may find himself out of the team and added that he only sees India making one change, bringing Jasprit Bumrah in place of Kuldeep.
"Bumrah for sure will be back in the team. You'll probably have a new-ball attack in Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, and Mohammed Siraj as your three new-ball bowlers, and Kuldeep may find himself out of the team because it's a pink-ball Test.
“The ball does tend to do a little bit more as evening approaches. And once you play under lights, it's a completely different seam so I would imagine that would be the only change, Bumrah coming in place of Kuldeep," he said.
The third Test between India and England will kick start on February 24 at the newly refurbished Sardar Patel Stadium.
(Starsports Inputs)
