Many questions have now been raised as to why captain KL Rahul sat out Kuldeep Yadav, the man of the match in the first Test, as he claims he does not know or understand anything about the Mirpur pitch in the 2nd Test of India’s Bangladesh series.
Gavaskar has already expressed his deep displeasure. This will stir up more controversy as Jayadev Unadgat has been fielded on this pitch.
Kuldeep Yadav was the man of the match in the first Test at Chattogram, but no one could stomach sitting him out in this Test regardless of the pitch, and even worse, left-arm fast bowler Jayadev Unadgat was chosen to replace Kuldeep Yadav in his 2nd Test after 12 years.
In the same way in the 2010 Bangladesh series, Amit Mishra, who took 7 wickets and scored a half-century, was made to sit in the next Mirpur Test match. No reason was given. These are all the quirks of the Indian team’s selection procedures.
Today Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and chose to bat and when asked by Rahul he said he would have batted and when asked about the pitch he said, “I am confused by this pitch, I don’t know exactly about the pitch, there are many experienced experts and coaches to predict it. I hear, Jaidev Unadgad has replaced Kuldeep Yadav, a very tough decision for Kuldeep. We think Ashwin and Axar are good enough for spin, Unadgad’s arrival will ‘cover’ all the fields,” says Rahul.
How can a captain who does not know about the pitch and leaves it to the coaches and experts to captain the field? This is the first question. Second, someone who claims to know nothing about pitching, how can the captain of an international team whose pitch is unpredictable drop last tournament’s man of the match Kuldeep Yadav and replace him with unproven Unadkat after 12 years in an international?
Thirdly, why didn’t Rahul Dravid, an experienced and expert coach, advise Rahul to keep Kuldeep Yadav when the pitch was told by Sanjay Manjurekar, Wasim Jaffer, Sunil Gavaskar etc. that it was a pitch for 3 spinners?
What will the minds of young players like Kuldeep, who have already been sat out without being given a chance in Tests, come back and take 5 wickets to lead the way to victory? Does Rahul Dravid understand this? Does KL Rahul understand? KL Rahul is the one who really needs to be trapped. What does this mean if he is in a position to trap the well-throwing Kuldeep Yadav?
One day, T20 Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid combination showed their selection miracles and if they see that they will form a stable team in Tests, the fear is raised among the fans that no one will question the continuation of their strangeness in Tests. Also, 18-year-old spinner Rehan Ahmed was given a chance in the England team and he took 5 wickets and shut down Pakistan in the 2nd innings, leading to England’s whitewash victory. Kuldeep Yadav, who bowled well here and won the man of the match award, is dismissed. What is ironic?
It is evident that Virat Kohli was the one who suggested many fielding systems and bowling changes in the first Test. It was Virat Kohli who asked to bring in an extra slip fielder as Siraj and Umesh’s balls were getting edged even in this Test match. Why is Rahul the captain? What captain is he? How can he seat Kuldeep Yadav when he can list his inadequacies?
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was dropped in the Centurion Test after scoring 47 runs and taking 7 wickets in the South Africa series. Pujara has been labeled a slow scorer for no reason. KL Rahul keeps going despite his swagger, Rahane is out of sorts. Sarbaraz Khan, Jaiswal, etc. have no chance. When is the BCCI leadership going to put an end to all this?