Ravi Shastri opens up on Kuldeep's selection at Lord's

So much has been said after Team India lost the Lord’s Test effectively inside two days. Still, the questions are being asked about the abject performance which the team put on under extremely tough conditions. Their head coach Ravi Shastri fronted the media ahead of the third Test at Trent Bridge and looked confident about turning around the series. However, he also admitted that the selection of Kuldeep Yadav at Lord’s was a misjudgement on their part.

London was melting under extreme heat and both the teams were considering playing an extra spinner one day before the Test. But as soon as the conditions changed dramatically on the match day, the hosts went in with Chris Woakes as their fourth pacer. In contrast, their opponents decided to stick to their strengths and included Kuldeep Yadav by benching Umesh Yadav who had bowled decently at Edgbaston.

As it turned out, none of Kuldeep and Ravi Ashwin could pick even a single wicket and to make matters worse, Adil Rashid was not even introduced into the attack in 82.2 overs by England. All the 20 Indian wickets were picked by the fast bowlers as the game ended on the fourth day.

It was an error

Ravi Shastri accepted that the including Kuldeep was a mistake and they missed the third fast bowler in Umesh while bowling at England on a juicy pitch. However, he also defended the decision by saying that they were unaware of the rain which followed during the game.

“In hindsight, it was an error. We should have gone, seeing the conditions, with an extra seamer. It might have helped. Then again, you didn’t know how much it would rain, whether a match could go into the final day where just in case a spinner is needed and the ball starts to turn, would we have needed him. The way things panned out, the amount it rained, the time we lost, a seamer could have been a better option,” he said.

The third Test will commence on Saturday at Trent Bridge as the visitors will look to make a comeback and reduce England’s lead in the series.

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