An old debate has been reignited by India’s most recent selection call: how can Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav fit into a team that sorely needs batting depth up to No. 8? Even though individual performances from the ongoing series demonstrated why it is difficult to leave either out, the team’s balance conundrum once again took center stage on Tuesday night.
Arshdeep, India’s top wicket-taker, was benched for most of the games in the spin-friendly UAE, which caused some people to take notice. Before making an impression in the series opener against the Proteas in Cuttack, where he got the dangerous Tristan Stubbs behind with an outswinger, he was selected for three of the five games played in Australia. In the shortest format, it is equally difficult to match the left-arm pacer’s death bowling abilities.
Another match-winning player, Kuldeep Yadav, was left out when Arshdeep was added to the team. Kuldeep’s enormous contribution to the team was demonstrated in the ODI series when he took a number of wickets despite the heavy dew.
“It is unfortunate (picking between Arshdeep and Kuldeep). The way Arshdeep is bowling (you have to pick him). He is the highest wicket-taker for you in the format,” a PTI report quoted former India wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta as saying.
“You would want to have both ideally but you can’t (with batting needed till 8),” said Dasgupta, who is part of the commentary panel for the ongoing series.
The dearth of runs from captain Suryakumar Yadav’s bat is a significant issue, but overall, the team doesn’t need much work before the World Cup. Shubman Gill, the vice-captain, might also benefit with a few runs.
“The win showed how good India is especially when it is not a watch the ball hit the ball pitch (Cuttack was a sticky surface). It says a lot about their depth,” he said.
“(On SKY and Gill) I would not say a concern but ideally you would want to see them get runs. One you start thinking about runs, the chances are you won’t bat freely.”
“With Surya, it is not one series, we have not seen the best of him since he took over captaincy (last year),” Dasgupta added.
