The Indian team and the team management got slammed heavily by the Indian cricket fans and former cricketers after England defeated the Indian team in the first test match by 227 runs. The former Indian cricketers such as Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, etc. were quite bewildered by the selection of the squad as they were shocked to see that Kuldeep Yadav was not included in the team for the first test match. What surprised everyone more was the selection of Shahbaz Nadeem who was originally not a part of the squad but got included after Axar Patel got injured.
Cricket fans are of the view that Kuldeep Yadav is getting ignored continuously as he was with the team in the Australian tour but was not included in the playing eleven even when Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin were injured and ruled out for the fourth test match which was played at Gabba, Brisbane. Almost everyone was hopeful to see Kuldeep Yadav play in the first test match against England but it didn’t happen and Shahbaz Nadeem’s performance was also not every good.
Recently Kapil Pandey, the childhood coach of Kuldeep Yadav, slammed the Indian team management along with the skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri for being partial towards Kuldeep Yadav.
Now the former Indian cricketer and chief selector MSK Prasad has come to the defense of the skipper and team management and denied all the allegations regarding favoritism. While talking to a sports portal, Prasad says that he is pretty sure Virat Kohli will not even think on the lines of favoritism as personal issues don’t matter for him.
He adds that the skipper and the team management must have had some different plan; for example Washington Sundar’s batting ability might have increased his chances as the team management must have thought of playing an extra batsman who can bowl as well.
Talking about Shahbaz Nadeem’s inclusion in the team, MSK Prasad states that though the England cricket team whitewashed the series by 2-0 against Sri Lanka, the England batsmen faced difficulties against the left-arm spinners and this must be the thought behind the inclusion of Shahbaz Nadeem in the team. However, Prasad also maintains that he would have preferred Kuldeep Yadav who hasn’t got the chance to play for the country since 2019.
What is your take in this regard? Do you also think Kuldeep Yadav should be given an opportunity to play?