Kuldeep Yadav will have to wait for his chances, says former India selector Saba Karim

After taking 8 wickets in his previous outing, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was benched for the second Test match against Bangladesh. Kuldeep, who has been in and out of the Test lineup, was named player of the match in the most recent Test due to his outstanding performance with both the bat and the ball.

In the Dhaka Test match, Kuldeep was overlooked in favor of an additional pacer, which infuriated Indian cricket supporters on social media.

Former selector Saba Karim felt that India's choice to bench Yadav for the match over Jaydev Unadkat was based on how the track performed in the series' white-ball format.

"I think India have played with three seamers owing to the nature of the pitch, like in ODIs,” Karim said in an interview with the India News.

On a pitch where Ravi Ashwin had four wickets in the first innings, he regretted that the management had chosen to drop Kuldeep.

“Why will you drop a good player who is in form? What was the need to play an extra seamer? R Ashwin took four wickets, which means it’s a surface where a bowler like Kuldeep would have benefitted," the former selector said.

“There is no doubt that Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel are your top two quality spinners. Axar Patel’s track record has been phenomenal, especially how he got wickets. You can’t bench him. So, I think Kuldeep Yadav will have to wait for his chances,” Karim explained India's decision.

Coming to the match, India completely destroyed Bangladesh on the opening day of the second Test match, bowling the hosts out for just 227 runs in 74 overs. For India, Umesh Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin stood out, both taking 4 wickets, while left-arm bowler Jaydev Unadkat took the remaining two.

Former captain of Bangladesh Mominul Haque was the lone batter to reach the halfway point for the hosts after a poor run.

India was batting at 19/0 after 8 overs at the end of the day. While Rahul was batting at 3* off 30 balls, Shubman Gill  struck 14* off 20 balls.

READ| IND vs BAN 2nd Test: Bangladesh 227 all out as Ashwin, Umesh pick 4 wickets apiece; India 19/0 at stumps