Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has offered valuable advice to left arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav on how he can become a regular in India playing XI in Test cricket.
Kuldeep, who his Test debut against Australia at Dharamsala in 2017, an impressive bowling record (56 wickets in red ball format. He has picked 56 wickets in 13 Tests with an average of 22.16 so far. However, he has struggled to find a place in Indian Playing XI on regular basis.
The Indian team management has preferred spin all-rounders R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel in the home conditions, keeping Kuldeep out. On the other, Indian setup pick a fast-bowling all-rounder on foreign tour.
The 30-year-old Kuldeep was part of the India’s squad in the recently concluded England tour but he didn’t feature in any of the five matches as Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill-led management preferred Washington Sundar and Jadeja in the XI.
Former India batter Robin Uthappa feels that Kuldeep should take inspiration from Ashwin and work on his batting as it help him in getting picked in Indian playing XI on a regular basis in Test cricket.
“Put Kuldeep in the 11 and make sure your batting is still in a state where none of the fans will go after the team management or the captain. With all due respect to Kuldeep’s prowess with the ball, he’s got limitations to his batting. That’s going to take a lot of effort from his side,” Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.
“Ashwin has got five or six Test hundreds. If Kuldeep can do that at number eight or nine, then he will certainly play more Tests,” he added.
The 39-year-old Uthappa also spoke about Shubman’s captaincy in this England Test series. Notably, who was leading for the first time in Test cricket on England tour, scored a staggering 754 runs at an average of 75.40 in five matches.
“We’ve seen Shubman’s captaincy in this series, good at times and passive at others. Tactically, he will grow. As a leader, he is coming into his own since leading Gujarat Titans,” he said.
After the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy in England, India will next play Test cricket against West Indies in October, followed by a two-Test series against South Africa in November.