CHENNAI, India (AP) — Former India National Cricket Team player Sanjay Manjrekar took a dig at captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir for dropping Kuldeep Yadav from the first Test against Bangladesh. The team management opted for three seamers and two spinners, with Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin getting the nod.
Kuldeep was sensational in the previous Test series against England, taking 19 wickets at an average of 20.15 in four matches. He was main reason behind India’s 4-1 win over the Ben Stokes-led team. However, his performance was not taken into consideration while naming the squad for the opening game.
Manjrekar took to social media to question the decision.
“Find it amazing how easily India drops a Kuldeep Yadav,” he wrote on X.
In 12 red-ball matches, Kuldeep Yadav has accumulated 53 scalps at an average of 21.05. Meanwhile, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl first in the Chennai Test.
It is new coach Gautam Gambhir’s first Test assignment for India. He had led India in a white-ball series against Sri Lanka earlier this year. Star players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin are all back in action, and Sharma is captain once again.
Rishabh Pant makes a comeback to Test cricket for India after a car crash in December 2022. He had last played a test match against Bangladesh that same month, and returned to professional cricket earlier this year in the IPL T20 tournament.
The second Bangladesh-India Test will be played in Kanpur and begins on Sept. 27, with three Twenty20 matches to follow.
