India had England on the mat when they had reduced the visitors to 112-5. But England came back strongly, thanks to a brilliant hundred from Joe Root.
Rohit Sharma has been under the scanner in the ongoing India-England series. While some of his decisions have been spot on, some have been criticized as well. After the Day 1 of Ranchi Test, England were the more satisfied team with their performance. Joe Root, England’s best batter, finally got going with a patient century.
India started the day brilliantly with debutant Akash Deep dismantling England’s top order with three quick wickets. But the visitors made a remarkable comeback. The left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav was brought into the attack in the 42nd over of England’s innings. The decision came as a surprise as Kuldeep got vital breakthroughs in the previous match.
In a discussion on Colors Cineplex, RP Singh, former India fast bowler presented his thoughts on India’s performance. The former left-arm seamer believes Kuldeep Yadav should have bowled a lot more than he did.
“The bowlers put in a lot of effort. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and both the fast bowlers put in a lot of effort. Siraj bowled better in his second spell than his first. The only thing I have a doubt about is that you didn’t use Kuldeep Yadav as much as you should have,” RP Singh said.
“Jadeja and Ashwin were overbowled and Kuldeep couldn’t bowl that much because of that, and this happens as well. When you have three spinners, and all three are wicket-takers, one of the bowlers is underbowled many times and that happened with Kuldeep here,” the former left-arm quick added.
Meanwhile, commentator Aakash Chopra also believed that Kuldeep Yadav was introduced late. He believed India were spoilt for choices as they had plenty of bowling options.
“It’s right, you are spoilt for choices when you have five bowlers. You get confused at times when you go to a buffet. Kuldeep Yadav was 100% introduced late. He could have been bowled a little earlier,” Chopra said.
“However, when you stick with your fast bowlers from one end for a long time, it’s a rotational policy at the other end. In that rotational policy, one has taken more than 500 wickets, and the other is the Player of the Match of the last game, so you go first towards them,” the former India opener added.
Kuldeep Yadav bowled just 10 overs on Day 1 and went wicketless. While India’s premier spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared 49 overs between them. England finished Day 1 on 302-7. They were finally bowled out for 353 on Day 2 before lunch, with Joe Root scoring 122*.
