File photo of Kuldeep Yadav.
With the criticism that followed post-non-selection of chinaman Kuldeep Yadav for the India-England first Test, it seems imminent that the 26-year-old chinaman will play the second Test from Saturday in Chinaman. The idea of playing Kuldeep emanated from the fact that England in the past have struggled against left-handed spinners.
However Australian chinaman great Brad Hogg opines that it's better to play with a fit Axar Patel over the young southpaw spinner as he feels India need to play the Test with a tweaker who could move the ball away from English batsmen.
"With Ashwin playing and no Jadeja, this is a big headache because you need someone as a second spinning option with a player who can also handle the bat," Hogg said on his YouTube channel. "Try and do that role of Jadeja. So you got two right arm off-spinners (Washington Sundar and Ashwin) and you need that one spinner who can take the ball away. But Kuldeep, being a left-handed leg spinner, will also bring the ball in. So you got three spinners bringing the ball in and that's an issue. But the way Nadeem bowled in the last match and if Axar Patel is not fit, then Kuldeep must play."
He further pointed out that Kuldeep is somebody who can't generate that bit of an extra bounce and could have a field day against a few English batsmen who are good at playing sweep shots.
"Another issue with Kuldeep is that he doesn't get that extra bounce and with likes of Foakes and Joe Root, who are good sweepers, Kuldeep will have his task cut out," he said.
