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Former Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria was baffled to see Team India not pick Kuldeep Yadav ahead of Axar Patel as their third spinner in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
While Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja seemed to be automatic picks as the first-choice spinners, there was a debate about who between Axar and Kuldeep could be the third spinner.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Danish Kaneria explained the similarities in the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel and why he felt Kuldeep Yadav could have brought variety. He said:
"I am disappointed that they didn't play Kuldeep Yadav. If you're playing a left-arm finger spinner in Jadeja, then what sense does it make to play Axar who provides the same thing? Kuldeep has done well whenever he has got an opportunity. If you knew the pitch was going to turn, then wouldn't it have been better to have variety of Kuldeep alongside Jadeja and Ashwin? It's beyond my understanding why he didn't play."
Danish Kaneria on Axar Patel's batting ability
Danish Kaneria accepted that India wanted to lengthen their batting by including Axar Patel. But he also felt that Axar's ineffectiveness with the ball in the first innings showed that you need to pick genuine wicket-takers like Kuldeep.
On this, he stated:
"I understand that some are saying that Axar has been played over Kuldeep to lengthen the batting, but you win Tests by taking 20 wickets. You need to play all your wicket-taking options and Kuldeep is certainly one on such a track where it will turn more as the game progresses."
India Playing XI: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohd. Siraj, Mohd. Shami.
Australia Playing XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland.
