File photo of Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir
While India have done quite well to keep the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series poised at 1-1 after three Tests, former Australia captain Allan Border, one of the people whom the series is named after, wasn’t impressed with one particular aspect of India’s team selection. Border expressed surprise that India did not bring along a leg-spinner such as Kuldeep Yadav or Yuzvendra Chahal along for the series. Border criticised the way leg-spinners are utilised by modern captains, stating that “a Shane Warne doesn’t come along every day”.
“I’m surprised India haven’t brought Yuzvendra Chahal or Kuldeep Yadav. It’s hard to develop a leg-spinner. A Shane Warne doesn’t come along every day. I don’t think captains use leg-spinners very well,” said Border, in an interview with The Times of India.
“They (captains) want the leg-spinners to be like Warne, but captains are very defensive,” Border said further. “They need to realize it’s going to take a while for a young leg-spinner to develop. You need to give him protection. You’ve got to have the captaincy to bring the best out of a leggie,” Border added.
It is worth noting that Kuldeep Yadav has been granted time off by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to get treatment for a recurring groin problem, while Yuzvendra Chahal has never played a Test match.
India have had to deal with spinner problems of their own. India have used three different players – Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin – as their lone spinner in three Tests. To add to the problem, Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket midway through the series.
The fourth Test in Melbourne, starting on Boxing Day, and the final Test in Sydney, could put forth surfaces where India go with two spinners, in which case both Sundar and Jadeja would feature.
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