The Indian team got off to a subpar start to the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Taking on England in the first Test of the series at Headingley in Leeds, where India excelled with the bat, they failed to make up for it with the ball in hand. The first innings of the game saw India post 471 runs after centuries by Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill.
Furthermore, they conceded 465 runs to England in the first innings and followed it up by scoring 364 runs in the second innings, giving England a target of 371 runs to chase down. Where the side backed their bowlers to finish the job, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett had plans of their own.
As England came out to chase down the target, Crawley amassed 65 runs, with Ben Duckett adding 149 runs on the board. England chased down the target with five wickets to spare and took the advantage early in the series. Speaking of India’s performance in the first Test, veteran India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin opined that India made several selection blunders in the game.
"There is a big chance for Kuldeep to be played in the XI. I simply adore Shardul Thakur, but if he is not going to bowl at all till the 40th over in the 1st innings and is used sparingly in the Test... it means there was no need for the fourth fast bowler, and you could have instead played a second spinner,” Ashwin said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin reflected on how the situation could have been different had Kuldeep played in Leeds
Further establishing his point, Ravichandran Ashwin reflected on how there were high chances that Kuldeep Yadav could have played the first Test against England, and the result could have changed had Kuldeep been involved.
"Honestly, there were a lot of chances for Kuldeep to have played this Test. We have seen high-scoring chases at Leeds. Say, for instance, today, Crawley and Duckett had a 150-run opening partnership. If Kuldeep had a bowl at them... of course, I am not saying he would have returned with a fifer. If he had ended up with 3/80, and Jadeja picked up 2/70, the game was over,” Ashwin said.