Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has reckoned that the Indian team management doesn’t have enough faith in the attacking wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, by the way he was used in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaif asserted that Kuldeep is a unique gift for the Indian team and a bowler like him comes just once or twice in history. He went on to add that the skipper Shubman Gill didn’t back Kuldeep in longer spells.
“From how he was used, it is clear that Shubman Gill doesn’t have enough faith in Kuldeep Yadav. From my point of view, you won’t get a unique bowler like Kuldeep that often. They come just once or twice in history. We may get Ravindra Jadeja’s replacement in the future, like we have Suthar; then we had Washington Sundar after Ashwin, but Kuldeep is a unique gift,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
“When you give a bowler a spell, especially a wrist-spinner, you need to give him a long spell. The short spells are not helping Kuldeep. Longer spells give you the chance to rectify mistakes. You need time to get into rhythm. Shubman Gill did not back him in that sense,” he added.
Interestingly, Sri Lankan left-handed batters Sonal Dinusha and Niroshan Dickwella looked in control against Indian bowlers during the first Test. Kaif reckoned that the off-spinner Saransh Jain could make his debut to counter the Lankan left-handed batters.
“I feel India might be considering playing Saransh Jain in Colombo. The two batters who scored runs, Dickwella and Sonal, are both lefties. There came a time when Shubman Gill was searching for an off-spinner when they were batting. Because of Sri Lanka’s in-form lefties, maybe Kuldeep will have to face the axe. It was Suthar vs Saransh earlier; now it will be Kuldeep vs Saransh,” he concluded.
