He scored only five runs and picked two wickets at Headingley.
The India men’s head coach Gautam Gambhir will have some tough decisions to make after losing the opening Test of the five-match series against England at Headingley. Trailing by 0-1, India need to win the Edgbaston Test to level the scoreline.
The visitors lost the series opener despite being in a dominant position at multiple points across five days. One of the biggest reasons for their defeat turned out to be their team selection.
Picking Shardul Thakur over a specialist bowler didn’t pan out well. Fans and pundits felt like India were playing with 10 players. Captain Shubman Gill didn’t show much faith in him or simply didn’t know how to use him.
The seam all-rounder bowled only six overs in the first innings for 38 runs and returned with 2 for 52 in 10 overs in the second innings. Thakur’s two wickets came out of nowhere. Ben Duckett, who smashed 149, drove a half volley outside off straight to cover while Harry Brook was strangled down the leg. Both deliveries should’ve been put away for boundaries on merit.
Thakur was picked in the side for his batting ability down the order. But he could only manage 1 & 4 in two innings. He lost his wicket while playing loose drives both times.
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Former India cricketer, Sanjay Manjrekar criticised the team selection and urged the management for a course correction in the second Test. Speaking on JioHostar, he suggested India to drop Thakur in favour of Kuldeep Yadav. He also argued that picking Nitish Kumar Reddy would not be ideal as it affects the team balance.
“I’m sorry but Shardul Thakur has to go out. I think Kuldeep Yadav has to come back. As for Nitish Kumar Reddy — I backed him for the first Test purely based on what he did in Australia. It’s an unpopular choice because when he comes in, the balance does get affected a bit,” said Manjrekar.
India’s current pace attack isn’t as potent as it was a couple of years back. With that in mind, Manjrekar believes they should go with a specialist spinner even if it means they’re one seamer short.
“Pick your best bowlers, irrespective of the conditions. You don’t have the luxury of someone like Mohammed Shami available, or the full-strength pace battery, so I’d go one seamer short and bring Kuldeep Yadav into the XI,” he added.
The Indian team management will have enough time to rethink their strategy in the remainder of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. They will take on the hosts in the second Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham from July 2.
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