‘Can’t Afford To’: India Test Specialist Reveals Why X-Factor Star Wont Be in Playing XI for England Tests

Chandra Moulee Das

Last updated: June 19, 2025 - 2 min read

The Indian team will kickstart the new World Test Championship (WTC 2025-27) cycle with a high-profile five-match Test series against England. After losing two WTC finals and failing to qualify for the summit clash in the last cycle, the Men in Blue will be gunning to go the distance this time around.

However, they now have a now leader at helm, with Shubman Gill taking over the captaincy reins after the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the longest formats. In their absence, there is a lot of speculation on how the playing XI will shape up.

Given the rather young and inexperienced batting lineup, finding a place for X-factor spinner Kuldeep Yadav will be a tough call. If Kuldeep is included, it will cost the place of a batter.

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Why Kuldeep Yadav Wont Be in Playing XI for England Tests?

English conditions don’t favour much spin and with India already having a spin all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja in the ranks, Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara feels that including Kuldeep Yadav will be a difficult task.

Echoing on the same lines, Pujara said to Indian Express, “No, I won’t play two spinners on that one. Definitely not. But I think the spinners will come into play from Day 3 three onwards. It won’t be in the first innings. Most likely, they will have a bigger role in the second innings. But you won’t play two. There won’t be a lot here for a finger spinner. I would go with a wrist spinner. But if Kuldeep Yadav (left-arm wrist spinner) plays and India leaves out Ravindra Jadeja (finger spinner all-rounder), the batting line-up will become weak. So the Indian team can’t afford to play a wrist spinner.”