Fourth Test and fourth different bowling combinations for India - Where does it leave Kuldeep Yadav?

The Manchester Test is just a night’s sleep away. It is the fourth Test of the ongoing England versus India series and the tourists are set to have their fourth different bowling combination. Injuries have played a part in it. Nitish Kumar Reddy has been ruled out of the series after sustaining a knee ligament injury. Akash Deep will miss the game, as he is nursing a groin niggle. Anshul Kamboj has been drafted into the squad and he is likely to make his debut in Manchester.

But where does it leave Kuldeep Yadav? On the face of it, the world's best spinner not getting a game yet sounds bizarre. A resounding win at Edgbaston notwithstanding, the Indian team management’s template to stick to bits and pieces at the expense of a specialist hasn't augured well.

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The third Test at Lord's is a case in point. England had slumped to 271/7 in their first innings. But their last three wickets took the total to 387. In the final outcome, those 116 runs proved to be decisive. The counter logic could be that Washington Sundar ran through England’s middle-order in the second innings to return with four wickets and set up the game for India. Then again, on a pitch where Jamie Smith and Co. struggled to counter Washington’s apparently innocuous off-spin, they might have found Kuldeep unplayable. Tailenders are always vulnerable against wrist-spin, and Kuldeep is a world-class operator.