RevSportz Comment
On the surface, a 2-2 draw in England, especially when your talismanic bowler could play only three matches, is an excellent result. Australia haven’t won an Ashes series in England since 2001, and while England have lost a few shorter home series, it’s hard to get the better of them over five Tests.
But as you sift through the evidence, you realise how much of an opportunity was lost. Jofra Archer played just two Tests. Gus Atkinson, outstanding at The Oval, was part of just one. Ben Stokes sat out the last game. Of the four to cross 500 runs for the series, three were Indian, as were four of the six highest wicket-takers.
India also lost a Headingley Test from being 430-3, an abomination. At Lord’s, bowling indiscipline – 63 extras across the two innings – and careless batting on the fourth evening cost them another win. It doesn’t require great imagination to say that the final scoreline should have been 3-1 to India, or better.
There’s also the matter of how those two Tests were lost. At Headingley, the last three England wickets added 72. In the first innings at Lord’s, it was 116. And as the tail wagged like a happy puppy’s, it was only natural that eyes and thoughts turned to someone sitting in the dressing room.
Greg Chappell has called Kuldeep Yadav the ‘best wrist-spinner since Shane Warne’. Michael Atherton, who played his county cricket at Lancashire, was bemused when he was left out of the Old Trafford Test. In an interview with RevSportz prior to the tour, Michael Clarke – a wonderful player of spin – had labelled Kuldeep India’s X-factor in England.
None of these legends were talking through their hats. England’s frailty against wrist-spin is well-documented, and has much to do with the players’ lack of exposure to it. Of the 20 spinners to take at least 100 Test wickets for England, only one – Johnny Wardle – bowled wrist-spin, and that too on occasions.
Generations of Australian leggies have tormented the old enemy. Arthur Mailey, Bill O’Reilly and Clarrie Grimmett enjoyed considerable success in the years between the two World Wars, while Richie Benaud carried on the tradition. The peerless Shane Warne took an incredible 195 wickets in 36 Ashes Tests, while Stuart MacGill harvested 39 in the six Tests where he deputised for him.
Kuldeep had previous form against England as well, having taken 19 wickets at an average of 20 in four home Tests in 2024. Of those, only four were tail-end batsmen. Those he dismissed thrice included Ben Stokes, Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow, whose career was effectively ended by his failure to fathom Kuldeep.
After the great escape in Manchester, Sunil Gavaskar suggested on air that Shubman Gill’s lack of faith in Shardul Thakur’s bowling – 11 overs out of 157 – hinted that he may have wanted to play Kuldeep instead. “It should never be the coach’s team,” said Gavaskar, implying that the final call had not been Gill’s alone. “I am still very much old school. It shouldn’t happen. However young you are, the reason you’re given the job is because someone sees something in you that you are a leader. I’m not talking about Shubman Gill. This is a general point. If you are a leader, you lead. That is your job.”
Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were magnificent with the bat, but neither is a frontline spinner away from home – Jadeja’s strike-rate of nearly 122 was comfortably the worst of the specialist bowlers on either side. If you go by the Australian dictum that you always pick your four best bowlers first, Kuldeep would be a shoo-in every single time.
In his latest column for ESPNCricinfo, Greg Chappell wrote of Gill: “His use of the meagre bowling resources allotted was quixotic at times, but he now has the status to be more assertive at the selection table.
“To me, Kuldeep Yadav not being picked was incomprehensible, as he is a potential match-winner. Fixing errors like that, and embarking on a continuing search for bowling depth, can make this a formidable team.”
Hopefully, the decision-makers are listening, instead of patting themselves on the back.
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