Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg has backed India’s Arshdeep Singh to make his debut against England in the second Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham, which starts on Wednesday, July 2. Calling him a ‘trump card’, the cricketer-turned-analyst said the left-arm pacer will bring variety to the bowling lineup, which they lacked in the first Test in Leeds.
Hogg further backed Prasidh Krishna to keep his place in the second Test while crediting the lanky pacer for his ability to generate extra bounce. The remarks came as Krishna bagged five wickets in the first Test but conceded at over six runs an over in both innings.
On Tuesday (July 1), the 54-year-old said on his YouTube channel:
“10:22 – For me, India have got a good bowling depth. The one thing they have in their lineup is a left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh, who doesn’t play that much Test cricket, but he’s your trump card. He’s your point of difference. If you’re not gonna play the left-arm leg-spinner in Kuldeep Yadav, play a little bit of variety in Arshdeep Singh.”
“10:40 – You’ve got Prasidh Krishna, who did move that [ball] well in the second innings of the first Test match. Watch out! I’ll play him again in the second Test match because he’ll work things out. He’ll work out the game play and turn things around, and he’s got extra bounce. I think he can play a part,” he added.
“I would have probably gone for Arshdeep Singh instead of Siraj” – Brad Hogg
Brad Hogg reiterated that Arshdeep Singh should have played ahead of Mohammed Siraj in the series opener against England. The legendary spinner added that the visitors should’ve backed their batting unit and played with four specialist bowlers in their XI instead of including all-rounder Shardul Thakur in the opening game. He said in the same video:
“11:09- I just don’t think India played their cards well enough in that first Test match. I would have probably gone for Arshdeep Singh instead of Siraj. Or just back my top order and not had Thakur in there and gone with four quick bowlers, rather than having the all-rounder, because what that tells me is that you don’t trust your top order. You need batting depth, and also, you’re not trusting your bowling department as well."
"You’re trying to cover too many bases rather than just going in there with a strict plan where this is my batters, this is my bowlers, they’re gonna get 20 wickets,” Hogg added.
The remarks came after Thakur failed to deliver with the ball, managing only two wickets in the opening Test. The right-hander also returned with poor scores of 1 and 4.
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