Former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid recently opened up about the Indian Test squad selected for the upcoming series against England.
Team India is set to leave for England on June 2 to play the World Test Championship (WTC) final versus New Zealand and then participate in an away series against the hosts.
Dravid was quite satisfied with the selection process and only keen on discussing left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav’s exclusion. Though Kuldeep was a part of the side that toured Australia at the beginning of the year but didn’t make it to the playing XI.
When England toured India, the Kanpur-born even then took the field for just one Test and was also dropped for the ODI series decider. Kuldeep has been a regular part of the wings, albeit given meagre chances to prove his worth on the field.
Talking about the same, Dravid argued that Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar had given spot-cementing performances in recent times.
“It does seem balanced. It’s a 20-member squad. The only other one who could have merited selection would’ve been Kuldeep Yadav, but he’s fallen away over the last little bit. Also, with the kind of recent performances from Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar, they’re clear about the kind of balance they want in the squad,” the veteran cricketer said during a webinar organized by Live Aid India on Sunday (May 9).
Adumbrating the reason, Dravid added that Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja are reliable all-rounders. Likewise, the Indian team has found their replacements in Axar and Washington since the duo can put up a decent show with the bat in the absence of the stalwarts.
“With both Ashwin and Jadeja adding value with the bat and having like-for-like replacements in Axar and Washy [Washington Sundar], they’re clear about the direction they want to take. It lengthens their batting and all four finger spinners here allow them to do that. The make-up of the squad tells me they know their best XI even before they leave from here,” the former India Under-19 coach opined.
Debuting in 2017, Kuldeep has played just seven Tests and scalped 26 wickets at an average of 23.80.
