CD Gopinath, India’s oldest living Test cricketer and a former team selector and manager, believes we have missed a trick by not playing Kuldeep Yadav against England.
“We should bring Kuldeep Yadav in,” Gopinath said in an exclusive interview, after India’s third Test loss at Trent Bridge. “We don’t have any specialist spinners right now, and Kuldeep brings that X-factor.”
India’s bowling attack in England has leaned heavily on pace, a tactic Gopinath believes is fundamentally flawed in the longer format. Though Washington Sundar picked up four wickets during India’s second Test win at Lord’s, and Ravindra Jadeja has provided left-arm spin when fit, Gopinath feels it’s still not enough.
“Look at how Washington Sundar took four wickets in the last Test. On the fifth day, the pitch will be worn out and we’ll need a spinner to bowl,” he underlined.
“The ball may not turn on Day 1, but by Day 4 or 5, even the non-specialist spinners can trouble top-order batsmen if they know how to use the pitch,” said Gopinath, while emphasising why Kuldeep can make a bigger impact.
Having played in England during the 1952 tour, managed the national side in 1979, and served as a selector through the 1980s, Gopinath is drawing on experience.
“When I was a selector, I always ensured we had four spinners in the squad. Back then, that was necessary,” he said. “Fast bowlers are best for T20s. When it comes to Tests, we need spinners too.”
Gopinath also shared his impressions of India’s new captain, Shubman Gill.
“He’s balanced, even-tempered,” he noted after the second Test. “But I only felt that in the first Test match, he, as a captain, could have saved that match. We had two batsmen with centuries at the crease, and no one told them to bat another hour. That was poor match management.”
He further questioned the delayed declaration in the second Test at Birmingham. “You did not need 600 runs on the board. In England, the rain can be a big factor. Luckily, we managed to bowl them. But that was a big risk.”
When it came to the third Test at Lord's, he felt Rishabh Pant's dismissal in the first innings was the turning point.
"He was being unselfish, but there was no need for that run. Rahul could have come back and completed his ton (as he eventually did). If the two of them had batted on, we would have been a winning position by the end of our first innings," Gopinath noted.
