3 reasons why India picking Mukesh Kumar for 2nd Test vs England is the wrong move
The second of five Tests between India and England got underway in Visakhapatnam on Friday. The hosts chose to bat first and ended the day on 336/6, thanks to Yashasvi Jaiswal's unbeaten ton.
Jaiswal continued his fine form by scoring runs at a brisk rate. He is unbeaten on 179 runs, which have featured 17 boundaries and five sixes. His current partner is Ravichandran Ashwin, who is unbeaten on five runs. No other batter scored more than 35 runs, which is a concern in this weak batting order.
Two changes were made by Rohit Sharma to the playing XI for the first Test. KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, who are both injured, were replaced by debutant Rajat Patidar and spinner Kuldeep Yadav. Another surprising change was Mukesh Kumar coming in for Mohammed Siraj, with the BCCI stating that it was done to manage his workload.
In this article, we will look at three reasons why India picking Mukesh Kumar for the second Test against England is the wrong move.
#1 Mukesh Kumar will not offer much with the ball on this surface
The theme of this Test series between India and England is going to be a bowling unit that is filled with spinners and just one top pacer. England have opted for just one pacer in both Tests so far: Mark Wood in the first Test and James Anderson in the second.
However, the Men in Blue have gone with two pacers in Hyderabad as well as in Visakhapatnam, despite preparing spin-friendly pitches. In the first Test, Mohammed Siraj bowled just 11 overs compared to Jasprit Bumrah's 24.4. It is also pertinent to mention that Siraj went wicketless.
Thus, it doesn't make sense to pick Mukesh Kumar as Siraj's replacement. He is not going to bowl a lot of overs on this rank-turner of a surface. A spinner would have been a better pick.
#2 He doesn't add any value to the Indian side apart from bowling
India's batting unit heading into this series already looked weak, but it has become even more inexperienced with Patidar replacing Rahul and Kuldeep taking Jadeja's place in the team for the second Test.
As just having Bumrah as the sole pacer would have sufficed on this pitch, India could have looked for a better batter than Mukesh Kumar to strengthen the side. Kumar is yet to score his first run in Test cricket and has a batting average of 8.73 in first-class cricket.
#3 Washington Sundar would have been the perfect pick instead of Mukesh Kumar
Washington Sundar is the exact type of player who has been described in the first two points of the article. He is a spin-bowling all-rounder who has batted up the order for India in the past. The 24-year-old is the most technically astute batter among the Men in Blue's spin bowlers.
With India without the likes of Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Rahul in this post-Cheteshwar Pujara-Ajinkya Rahane transition phase, Sundar would have offered a lot to the team. He has a batting average of 66.25 in his six Test innings and a batting average of 31.91 in first-class cricket, which offers a larger sample size.
Sundar's batting capabilities, coupled with the fact that he would have been a better wicket-taking option on this pitch, make it quite baffling how he was not picked over Kumar. Furthermore, with him bowling a good amount of overs, the other spinners could have gotten a slightly longer rest between spells.