India will face off against England in the second Test of the five-match series at Edgbaston, Birmingham, which starts on Wednesday, July 2.
Following the five-wicket defeat in the series opener at Headingley, India faces two major concerns: a lack of wicket-taking support for Jasprit Bumrah and, unlike England, an unreliable lower-order batting unit.
Experts have suggested bringing in Kuldeep Yadav to address India’s wicket-taking struggles, while Nitish Reddy is seen as a potential solution to their lower-order batting woes.
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In light of this, Indian commentator and former wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik has raised the question: Can India afford to play another spinner alongside Ravindra Jadeja, at the cost of weakening their batting?
Should India play two spinners at Edgbaston?
Speaking to Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz ahead of the second Test, Karthik noted that India must ensure they have the options to get all 20 wickets at Edgbaston.
However, he also wants India to consider and think through on playing the two spinners Jadeja and Kuldeep together.
"India has a massive decision to make," Karthik said. "Everything about England tells you that you don't need to play more than one spinner."
"If you play two spinners, that genuinely weakens your batting," he added.
Should India bring in Nitish Reddy instead of Kuldeep Yadav?
"That is a big decision. Are you still looking at Nitish Reddy at 8, which means only 3 bowlers. Or is he No. 7? But then, where does Jadeja go?" he asked.
READ MORE: Stuart Broad backs Kuldeep Yadav to expose England's wrist spin weakness in Edgbaston Test
Karthik also emphasized that England will look to score at a high rate and that India must not get carried away by the opposition's approach.
"I think they need to be very sure of one thing -- they cannot think what England will do because what they are doing is, 'you give us whatever you want to give us on Day 5, we will back ourselves to chase it' and then you have to think of picking 20 wickets -- the most important thing," said Karthik.
The former wicketkeeper batsman went on to discuss India's options, which include leaving out Shardul Thakur and Jadeja for Reddy and making Kuldeep the lone spinner, which would strengthen the batting.
How has Kuldeep Yadav performed vs England in Tests?
Should he be given the nod, the left-arm wrist spinner has promising numbers against the English batters with 21 wickets in 5 matches at a good average of 22.28 and a five-fer to his name.
| Matches | Wickets | Avg/SR | Economy | Best figures | 5w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 21 | 22.28/38.7 | 3.45 | 5/72 | 1 |
India's possible playing 11 for the 2nd Test vs. England
Contrary to Karthik's concerns about India weakening its batting by playing two spinners, the team might currently be more desperate to fix the wicket-taking issues.
Bringing in Kuldeep as an X-factor might be the answer especially if Jasprit Bumrah is rested. Arshdeep Singh is likely to make his Test debut as Bumrah's pace-bowling replacement. But who will make way for Kuldeep? A lot of questions to ponder for the think tank.
Despite his failures in the first Test, middle-order batsman Karun Nair is likely to be trusted for at least another Test match before a call is made on his performance.
India’s likely playing XI for 2nd Test: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh