“It becomes very difficult to get Kuldeep in” - Former RCB cricketer on India’s playing 11 for ENG vs IND 2025 5th Test

Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and India spinner Murali Kartik has weighed in on the visitors' playing XI for the fifth Test against England, which began on Thursday, July 31, at The Kennington Oval. Shubman Gill’s side made four changes, with Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Akash Deep, and Prasidh Krishna coming in place of Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, and Anshul Kamboj.

In a video shared by Cricbuzz on Friday, August 1, Kartik remarked that including Kuldeep Yadav was always going to be difficult given how impressively Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar performed in the Manchester Test. However, the 48-year-old expressed surprise over Arshdeep Singh not being handed his debut cap. He said:

“I’m a bit surprised that Arshdeep’s name didn’t come up. I can understand Kuldeep’s case because throughout the series everyone’s been talking about Kuldeep, Kuldeep, Kuldeep. But, when both Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja scored centuries and bowled as well, from a balance point of view it becomes very difficult to bring Kuldeep in. But why not Arshdeep? I still don’t understand that.”

“First, he’s very strong. Second, he’s very fit. And third, I feel that the left-arm variety, especially in these conditions, someone who can swing the ball... Today, whenever Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes bowled up front, look how difficult it was for the batters. From that point of view, I felt maybe if Bumrah wasn’t playing, Arshdeep could have been given a chance. But that didn’t happen,” he added.

Meanwhile, the 48-year-old praised comeback man Karun Nair for his unbeaten fifty on Day 1. Kartik stated:

“Since Rishabh Pant wasn’t there, a batsman was needed in his place. So it felt good that Karun Nair got another chance in the middle order because he was talked about before the last Test match in the press conference. It seemed like he would play and then it turned out he didn’t. So the captain gave him a chance, showed faith in him, and I think today he lived up to it with the way he batted in the middle order. And when there was so much on offer for the bowlers, he batted really well throughout the day and is still unbeaten.”

At the close of play on Day 1, the visitors stood at 204/6 after 64 overs, with Nair unbeaten on 52 and Washington Sundar on 19 at the crease.

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“Very hard to figure out” - Murali Kartik weighs in on Jasprit Bumrah’s availability

In the aforementioned video, Murali Kartik also shared his thoughts on Jasprit Bumrah’s exclusion from the fifth Test, which was due to workload management. On the eve of the match, July 30, skipper Shubman Gill had stated that a final decision on Bumrah’s availability would be taken on the morning of the game. As it turned out, the star pacer was not included in the playing XI.

Reflecting on the situation, Kartik questioned the lack of clarity surrounding Bumrah’s selection and fitness status, especially considering that he missed key matches despite having ample recovery time between Tests.

“Look, Bumrah’s situation is quite interesting. After the first match, he didn’t play the second one even though there was a gap of seven to eight days. Everyone was asking why he didn’t play when India was trailing 0-1, and most people, including myself, believed that since there was enough time, it felt like he was targeting the Lord’s Test, and that’s why he skipped the second match,” Kartik said.

“Now here, when he didn’t bowl on the last day and the day before that, and there was a three-day break, I was thinking that with a five-day break coming up, why can’t Bumrah play? And I will say this again. Sometimes medical personnel give their opinion based on their medical knowledge, but what you feel inside, no physio or doctor can fully understand or explain. That becomes really important, especially when you want to play a Test match, especially when you're playing for India, and especially when the series is on the line,” he added.

Kartik continued:

“But what someone is feeling internally and what the medical team is feeling, and what everyone else is feeling, is very hard to figure out. And when Bumrah didn’t play, it felt like it was already expected. You start to convince yourself that yes, it was expected, because it had been said earlier that he would play only three out of the five Tests, not more than that.”

Across the three matches he played in the series, Bumrah claimed 14 wickets in five innings at an average of 26.00 and a strike rate of 51.28, including two five-wicket hauls.