“I am not sure whether India are playing their two best spinners” - Sourav Ganguly questions Indian team combination in 2nd Test vs England

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has questioned the Indian team management’s decision to go ahead with Washington Sundar instead of Kuldeep Yadav in the second Test against England, which is ongoing in Birmingham.

Interestingly, India went ahead with three changes for the 2nd Test. While Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, and Akash Deep came into the XI, Shardul Thakur, Sai Sudharsan, and Jasprit Bumrah have been excluded.

"I am not sure whether India are playing their two best spinners. England have fielded first, I am surprised with that. I think this is India's best possible chance at the moment. Put runs on the board and hopefully it works out," Sourav Ganguly said during Tea on Day 1.

Furthermore, the former Indian captain and commentator Sunil Gavaskar was also surprised to see the Indian team not pick the attacking spin option Kuldeep Yadav in their playing XI on Wednesday, July 2.

"I'm a little baffled that Kuldeep wasn't picked, because on a pitch like this, where everybody says there's a little more turn," Sunil Gavaskar said on Sony Sports.

Gavaskar further added that the Indian team scored more than 800 runs in the Leeds Test, and they would have strengthened their bowling attack by picking all 20 England wickets instead in the ongoing Birmingham Test.

"If your top-order batters are not giving you the runs you expect, then Washington at seven or Nitish Reddy at eight won't necessarily fix that, because those weren't the batters who failed you in the first Test. You scored 830 runs. You didn't score 380 in two innings — it was 830-plus. That's a lot of runs,” the former Indian top-order batter added.

"So, where you needed strengthening was in the wicket-taking department, not so much in the batting,” he concluded.

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