India vs Afghanistan: Four test match newbies who need to fight for their spots in the eleven
India takes on Afghanistan in the historic one-off Test match at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru from June 14-18. Ajinkya Rahane is all set to walk out for the toss for the Men in Blue in the absence of Virat Kohli. This will the first ever Test for the Afghans who recently won the T20 series against Bangladesh at their new 'adopted' home of Dehradun. This promises to be an exciting contest as the cricketing world will be witnessing the battle between the top test nation and one of the exciting as well as a talented cricketing nation.
Several Test match newbies who have been named in the squad, need to fight for their places in the starting eleven. It is going to be a tactical headache for Captain Rahane and the team management ahead of the Afghan test. Let us now look at four newbies who might face the tough task of getting into the eleven.
4) Kuldeep Yadav
The slow left-arm chinaman bowler was excellent in the six-match ODI series against South Africa in February. Along with Yuzvendra Chahal, he rattled the Proteas batting line-up and ensured a famous victory for Virat Kohli's men. The spin duo of Chahal-Kuldeep was one of the pivotal factors in India's dominating show against the South Africans.
Kuldeep, who made his Test debut against Australia earlier in 2017 last played a test match for India in August 2017 against Sri Lanka away from home. The fact that the experienced Ravindra Jadeja is in the squad, puts his spot under scrutiny. Jadeja has always been magnificent in the Indian conditions and has proved that time and again in the longer format.
Jadeja last played a Test match for India in the home series against Sri Lanka last year. His rapport with Ashwin has always been excellent and the team management might likely continue with the duo. The fact that he is also a valuable lower middle-order batsman augurs well for the Saurashtra player, who is expected to give Kuldeep Yadav a tough fight for a spot in the eleven.