“He Will Have Variations”: Anil Kumble Backs India Spinner For Place In 2nd Test vs England

Team India lost to England by 28 runs in the first Test of the five-match series on Sunday in Hyderabad. On Day 4, England got bundled out for 420, setting a target of 231 for India. Ollie Pope was the main architect of England’s score with his knock of 196 runs. Later, the hosts fumbled in the chase and got bundled out for 202 after Tom Hartley registered a terrific seven-wicket haul. The Rohit Sharma-led side will now look to bounce back in the second Test, which will be played in Visakhapatnam from Friday. 

India’s bowling performance was a mixed bag in the first Test but pacer Mohammed Siraj‘s below-par outing left everyone disappointed. Many experts have suggested that India should play only pacer and include four spinners in their attack. 

Former India spinner Anil Kumble stated that if India are naming four spinners, then one place should definitely be given to Kuldeep Yadav. 

“I am not really sure whether you need a fourth spinner. But if India feels that they need only one fast bowler then having Kuldeep will certainly help. He will have variations but England will come and do the same things they did in Hyderabad. The wicket could be a turning one and we are expecting the pace to be quicker than this,” Kumble said on JioCinema. 

“This was slow but it was a good wicket if you applied yourself. India certainly needs to buckle up with their approach to playing against spin because I felt the approach of a couple of batters wasn’t positive and even the footwork wasn’t what you expected,” he added. 

Talking about the match, the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja scalped six and five wickets respectively. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah scalped two wickets in the first innings and then went on to register a four-wicket haul in the second one.