Ravi Shastri picks Kuldeep Yadav as primary overseas spinner

Dixit Bhargav | 05/02/2019
Shastri picks Kuldeep Yadav as primary overseas spinner

Shastri picks Kuldeep Yadav as primary overseas spinner: The Indian coach made a bold opinion on India’s overseas spinning options.

India’s recent Test series in Australia was the second time in their last two overseas Test series that their premier spinner played the first Test but didn’t end up playing the last Test of the series.

In England last year, Ravichandran Ashwin played the first four Test matches, picking up 11 wickets at an average of 32.72, an economy rate of 2.57 and a strike rate of 76.1. It was later known that he wasn’t fully fit during the fourth Test at Southampton.

Kuldeep Yadav being given a go in the second Test at Lord’s proved out to be a disastrous decision with respect to reading the pitch. It was eventually Ravindra Jadeja, who played in the last Test.

In Australia, Ashwin once again started the first Test at Adelaide as India’s premier spinner but ended up getting injured. While India played four specialist fast bowlers at Perth, Jadeja was included in the third Test with Yadav to accompany him in the fourth Test at Sydney.

While Jadeja dismissed seven batsmen in a couple of Tests, Yadav made an instant impact by registering his second five-wicket haul in his only outing in the series. Keenly impressed with the chinaman bowler, India Coach Ravi Shastri has now termed him as India’s No. 1 spinner in overseas Tests.

“I was very impressed with the way Kuldeep bowled in Sydney. Even in Test cricket, it is going to be the age of wrist spin, especially in overseas Test cricket. The way he bowled in Sydney, he becomes our number one spinner in overseas Test cricket,” Shastri was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz in an exclusive interview.

On being asked if one Test performance has changed his mind regarding such a major spot, Shastri highlighted him picking a five-fer being the reason behind the same.

“He plays overseas Test cricket and he gets five wickets, so he becomes our primary overseas spinner. Going ahead, if we have to play one spinner, he is the one we will pick. There is a time for everyone [referring to Ashwin’s poor fitness record in 2018]. But now Kuldeep is our frontline number one overseas spinner,” he added.

Post Edited By: Jatin Hasija
India kuldeep yadav Ravi Shastri

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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