Kuldeep Yadav likely to be included in team for 2nd Test match against England

India vs England 2024: Kuldeep Yadav might make his Test comeback after one year in the 2nd match against England in Visakhapatnam on February 4.

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Kuldeep Yadav is set to make his Test debut after 1 year.

Kuldeep Yadav might make his Test comeback after one year in the 2nd match against England. In the absence of Ravindra Jadeja, Yadav's inclusion in the playing 11 is nearly guaranteed. Jadeja is out of the team for the 2nd match due to a left hamstring injury along with KL Rahul, who is also injured. 

Three of India's experienced players will miss the second Test. Virat Kohli had already pulled out of the first two games for personal reasons, and KL Rahul joined Jadeja in the hospital with a quadriceps strain. None of the three can easily be replaced, but Jadeja is the most indispensable. From his debut in 2017, Kuldeep Yadav has only participated in eight Test matches. Only four of his five Test matches have been played in India; the other four were played abroad.

Kuldeep isn't playing red-ball cricket since India prefers left-arm chinamen when playing at home. India's alternatives include Saurabh Kumar, Washington Sundar, and the all-around wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav. The 29-year-old Kuldeep would have been a primary spinner in most other teams, but he has only made eight appearances due to the availability of Ashwin, Jadeja, and Axar Patel, all of whom are more than capable batters.

'It will be a tough choice' - Vikram Rathour talks about challenging atmosphere in dressing room

India's head batting coach Vikram Rathour discusses the selection procedure in light of the growing controversy over the choice of Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar. He stated that all of the players are good and that the management will determine which players to include, without offering any clue as to who will be selected for the second Test match.

"It will be a tough choice. What value they bring to the team, of course, is that they are superb players. We have seen how well they have done in domestic cricket in the last few years. So on these kind of wickets I think they can really add a lot of value to the team," says the batting coach.

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