Gautam Gambhir Asked To 'Dump' All-Rounders Idea, Told "Kuldeep Yadav Should've Played"

There's no way to win a Test match if a team cannot pick 20 wickets. As the Indian team management prefers picking multi-skilled players who can do a little bit of both batting and bowling, over out-and-out batters or bowlers, the approach faces serious scrutiny. India head coach Gautam Gambhir said to have played a major role in selecting the team for the 4th Test against England in Manchester, preferring all-rounders like Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar over pure batters and bowlers.

Kuldeep Yadav is one player whose absence from India's playing XI for the Manchester Test left many baffled. Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar called out the team management (Gautam Gambhir) for poor selection, asking them to dump the idea of preferring multi-skilled players over pure performers.

"What is coming through for everyone, despite India's heroism with the bat, is that the selections have been quite poor. We saw what Shardul Thakur was capable of in the first Test match, but despite that, he was picked again. And we saw the repeat of that inclination to have a bowler who can bat a bit. I think that thought has to be dumped, and India in this Test match needed a pure batter," Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo after Day 4 of the Manchester Test.

India lost two wickets in the very first over of the second innings on Saturday, but KL Rahul and Shubman Gill showed great determination to take the team's score to 172/2 by stumps on Day 4. Manjrekar, however, feels India would've benefitted by adding Kuldeep Yadav and a pure batter to the squad, more than all-rounders Sundar and Shardul.

"KL Rahul and Shubman Gill have tried their best to salvage the situation, but a pure batter in the team would have been handy, plus a pure wicket-taker. It has been hard to understand why India look to get players who have two skills rather than just go for quality. Kuldeep Yadav not playing the whole series tells you the approach of this Indian team management. They say that India need 20 wickets, but it's going to be difficult to convince me, because if that was the case, Kuldeep would have played by now," Manjrekar concluded.

The approach by the Indian team management, led by Gambhir, clearly indicates a defensive mindset that doesn't advocate taking 20 wickets in the match. With India trailing 1-2 in the series, making a comeback in the assignment, with this approach, looks highly unlikely.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team England Cricket Team Shubman Gill Gautam Gambhir Kuldeep Yadav Sanjay Manjrekar England vs India, 2025 Cricket