R Ashwin Fumes Over India's Team Selection For 4th Eng Test: "Obsession..."

Former Indian cricket team spinner R Ashwin was not happy with the team management's decision to not include Kuldeep Yadav for the fourth Test match against England at Old Trafford. India made three changes in the playing XI but instead of adding Kuldeep, they opted for Shardul as an all-rounder. Ashwin said that with Nitish Kumar Reddy out of the picture with injury, it was a 'no-brainer' to pick the spinner. Ashwin also pointed out that although India have two spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, Kuldeep's inclusion would have allowed Shubman Gill to rotate his resources properly.

“Once Nitish Kumar Reddy went out of the picture at No.6, it was a no-brainer to play Kuldeep Yadav. Fifteen full days of cricket has happened already, your fast bowling attack is tiring, Siraj was tiring. Even though Bumrah's workload has been managed, it is still not an easy task."

"Kuldeep Yadav is a serious miss for India, and England are ahead in the Test. Shubman Gill is unable to give six over, seven over spells to Bumrah, you cannot run him to the ground. I felt the spinners could have been rotated better,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Ashwin also slammed the team's obsession with adding an extra batting option at No. 8 and pointed out that a specialist spin option would have been a better choice.

“If somebody would have told me that Kuldeep Yadav will not be playing any part in the first four Tests, I would have been very very surprised. Unfortunately, it is our obsession with batting, and looking for those 20-30 extra runs. Gone are those days in England, that advantage of 20-30 runs is gone. If your No.7 makes 30 runs, and your No.8 makes 30 runs, you have extra 60 runs. Earlier that 60 runs used to be very useful, because bowlers used to get help from the pitch,” Ashwin said.

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