India is too much dependent on Bumrah, should play Kuldeep: Azharuddin

Former captain Mohammad Azharuddin said India should play left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the Edgbaston Test against England to add more experience to their bowling attack and reduce the burden on pace talisman Jasprit Bumrah.

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Across the first Test at Leeds, which India lost by five wickets, the visitors were relying heavily on Bumrah for wickets and cutting the flow of runs.

“They are too much dependent on Bumrah. It’s not easy because you need more experienced bowlers, and they should play Kuldeep Yadav,” Azharuddin told PTI Videos.

India will face England in the second Test at Birmingham from July 2, and the pitch, which is expected to be dry, could offer some assistance to Kuldeep.

India made a good first innings total of 471 with skipper Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant making hundreds.

They had a reasonable second innings total of 364 with KL Rahul and Pant scoring centuries, but middle and late order collapse in both digs meant that the visitors could not raise stronger totals or a target.

Azharuddin called for keeping the team combination right to take the team out of the Leeds debacle.

“We lost because of batting collapse, but anyways now they have to pick the right players and bowling has to be perfect,” he noted.

The 62-year-old defended new Test captain Gill, saying he should be given enough time to prove his mettle.

“This is his just first match as a captain, you just can’t talk about captaincy. It’s too early to talk about captaincy,” he remarked.

“We should give him a fair chance and he has just taken over. So, you should give him a lot of time and support. We cannot just complain and criticise players like that,” said Azharuddin, who led India to 14 wins in 47 Tests as captain.