Coach Anil Kumble backed Kuldeep Yadav to debut in the last Test

Team India was hit by a huge blow on the morning of the Dharamsala Test but like champion teams do they were willing to turn adversity into an opportunity and have done that successfully if the outcome to this point is considered. Skipper Virat Kohli was ruled out of the game and that prompted the management to give Kuldeep Yadav his Test debut.

The 22-year-old chinaman unleashed on the very first morning and picked 4 wickets to halt the Australian innings that was moving along at quite some pace. His selection was widely praised and termed the masterstroke by the team management since Kuldeep has a lot of variations in his bowling and the Aussies didn’t manage to read him.

Reports emerging in the media now suggest that it was coach Anil Kumble’s decision to field Yadav to further strengthen the bowling attack. “It was a brave decision from the Indian team management to agree on a spot for a specialist bowler after losing a regular batsman in Kohli. Kumble was the mastermind behind this decision to pick Kuldeep. The coach knew that the left-arm spinner could have do the trick,” a source in the Indian team was quoted in the media.

In the last two Tests of the series the team had opted for four bowlers and on good batting surfaces the bowlers toiled really hard. It is widely believed that Ravichandran Ashwin who was bowling at a different level in the home season has tired down now and thus there is a drop in his wicket-taking ability. His spin-twin Ravindra Jadeja too has shared a huge load and bowled over 40 overs in each of the innings at Ranchi.

Jayant Yadav though a good option with the bat hasn’t emerged as the wicket-taker who could supplement Ashwin or Jadeja from one end. In Kuldeep’s case it was a young spinner who is unconventional, a class of bowler not found often, gives them that edge where the batsmen don’t quite pick him early in the inning and the variations he has in his bag makes him a tricky customer.

It will be interesting to see how the chinaman performs in the second inning when the wicket will offer him substantial assistance.