Debasis Sen in Leeds
The much anticipated five-match Test series between India and England will get underway at the Headingley cricket ground, starting from Friday, June 20. The hosts have already announced their playing XI with three frontline pacers in the side alongside captain Ben Stokes, who is all set to roll his arm as the fourth seamer.
As far as the Indian team is concerned, two places are debatable. The team management, according to the vice-captain Rishabh Pant, is undecided about the No 3 batting position, and whether to go in with an extra spinner in Kuldeep Yadav. Given the conditions at the Yorkshire Cricket Club, playing a second spinner will be a luxury.
If practice sessions are an indication, then Ravindra Jadeja could be the lone spinner in the playing XI, with Kuldeep likely to get an opportunity at venues like Edgbaston and The Oval where the wickets do offer assistance to the spinners.
The focus was more on the fast bowlers in the first practice session at Headingley, on Wednesday, with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj doing the bulk of the bowling in the nets. Prasidh Krishna, who spent a lot of time bowling on the centre wickets under the watchful eyes of bowling coach Morne Morkel, could be preferred over left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh. It will be interesting to see if the team management pick both Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy in the playing XI.
Kuldeep, who has been under the shadow of Ravichandran Ashwin, will look to cement his place in the Test squad. The left-arm spinner has so far picked 56 wickets from 13 Test matches. Kuldeep has played only one Test in England – Lord’s, 2018 – where he went wicketless. His record against England is decent, having taken 21 wickets in six matches at an average of 22.28.
There have been instances in the past where the Indian team has gone in with two spinners in Leeds. Back in 2002, former India captain Sourav Ganguly decided to play both Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. The duo bagged 11 wickets between them on a track that assisted the seamers as India registered an emphatic victory by an innings and 46 runs. Will the new Test captain Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir be bold enough to play two spinners?
India have played seven Tests at this venue and won only twice, while one game ended in a draw. India’s only two Test wins came here in 1986 under Kapil Dev’s captaincy, and then in 2002 under Ganguly. The last time the two countries played here in 2021 under Virat Kohli, the visitors suffered an embarrassing loss by an innings and 76 runs.
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