Rohit Sharma’s captaincy came under severe criticism after he didn’t give the bowl to Kuldeep Yadav for 41 overs and nearly two sessions on Day 1 of the fourth Test against England in Ranchi.
When a captain has spinners of the quality of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja at his disposal for home Tests, it becomes difficult for him to take the ball off their hands. However, Rohit would be the first one to accept that he perhaps underbowled his 'third spinner', Kuldeep in this case.
On the opening day of the penultimate Test, Kuldeep bowled only 10 overs out of India's 90. While the wrist-spinner didn’t pick a wicket, he was very impressive with his lines.
On the other hand, Ashwin and Jadeja delivered 22 and 27 overs respectively. No wonder, former India cricketers RP Singh and Aakash Chopra felt that Rohit underutilized Kuldeep.
"The bowlers put in a lot of effort. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and both the fast bowlers put in a lot of effort. Siraj bowled better in his second spell than his first. The only thing I have a doubt about is that you didn't use Kuldeep Yadav as much as you should have," Singh told Colors Cineplex.
"Jadeja and Ashwin were over bowled and Kuldeep couldn't bowl that much because of that, and this happens as well. When you have three spinners, and all three are wicket-takers, one of the bowlers is underbowled many times and that happened with Kuldeep here," he added.
Sharing his two cents on the same, Aakash Chopra said Rohit may have gotten confused because of the "buffet" of bowlers in front of him.
"It's right, you are spoilt for choices when you have five bowlers. You get confused at times when you go to a buffet. Kuldeep Yadav was 100% introduced late. He could have been bowled a little earlier," Chopra said on the same show.
Riding on debutant Akash Deep’s splendid three-wicket burst, the hosts reduced England to 112/5 at Lunch on Day 1 in Ranchi.
However, veteran Joe Root's patient unbeaten century (106) bailed the visitors out of trouble as they ended the opening day with 302/7 on the board.
