Indian skipper Rohit Sharma on Wednesday admitted that the team management had a tough time making the third spinner choice between Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav for the opening Test against England but hinted that the former might just have made the final cut.
Behind Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, India are primed to pick a third spinner for the first Test against England, starting here from Thursday.
“If the wicket has bounce or if it doesn’t have bounce, he (Kuldeep) still is a factor in those types of conditions because he’s got superb variations. Obviously, he is a very mature bowler now from what he was a few years back,” Rohit said in the pre-match press conference.
“He’s not played a lot of Test cricket in India because of Ashwin and Jadeja. We’ve seen it in the past as well. With our middle-order (batting), in the past, a lot of us (batters) got an opportunity pretty late.
“But that’s the reality of it, you can’t hide away from it. But yes, he’s a very tempting option,” he added.
Although Rohit did not give away his final team for the match, he indicated that Axar might just be the one on the final team sheet.
He underlined the utility of the left-arm spinner as an all-rounder, the strongest clue about the think tank’s preference for this Test at least. He dispelled the notion that Axar packs similar abilities as Jadeja and, as such, he might slip down the pecking order.
“Axar, you know, with his all-round ability, gives us that batting depth. The consistency that he’s shown, playing in these conditions in Test cricket, also is an important factor for us.
“But it was a headache to decide who it is going to be for us. But I am not going to say who it is,” said Rohit.
The 36-year-old also hoped that premier spinner Ashwin will deliver one more time in conditions familiar to him.