Rohit Sharma-led India lost the first Test, of the five-match series, to England by 28 runs in Hyderabad despite taking a whopping 190-run lead. Ollie Pope (196) revived England’s hopes in the second essay as they set a tricky 231-run target for the home side, who got bundled out for 202 to lose on the last over of the fourth and penultimate day. After their shocking loss, India have plenty to ponder upon before the second Test in Visakhapatnam. Ahead of the Vizag Test, former Indian spinner and coach Anil Kumble opined on India’s potential XI and called for Kuldeep Yadav’s inclusion. 

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With Ravindra Jadeja injured, as well as KL Rahul, there will be a couple of changes in India’s XI for the second Test starting on Friday (Feb 2). Kumble feels Kuldeep can be drafted in especially if India feel the need to play only a solitary pacer. 

Speaking on JioCinema, Kumble stated, “I am not really sure whether you need a fourth spinner. But if India feels that they need only one fast bowler then having Kuldeep will certainly help. He will have variations but England will come and do the same things they did in Hyderabad. The wicket could be a turning one and we are expecting the pace to be quicker than this.”

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Further, Kumble opened up on India’s batting approach after the shock result in Hyderabad. In this regard, he added, “This was slow but it was a good wicket if you applied yourself. India certainly needs to buckle up with their approach to playing against spin because I felt the approach of a couple of batters wasn’t positive and even the footwork wasn’t what you expected.”

India aquad for the 2nd Test vs England: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Sourabh Kumar

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