After limited overs series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, India will play a four-match Test series against Australia from next month. This series is very important for Team India in order to qualify for the final of the World Test Championship.
The Indian team will have to win at least two matches in this series. If the series is lost, Team India will be in danger of being eliminated from the final of the World Test Championship.
Gambhir told this player as the X-factor –
Both the teams currently occupy the top two positions in the points table of the World Test Championship. As this series is coming closer, the interest in the team selection has also increased among the fans. Spin has always been a major weapon when it comes to Test series in India.
In such a situation, former Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir feels that Kuldeep Yadav will prove to be the ‘X-factor’ for India in place of experienced off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left-arm spinner Akshar Patel.
Repeatedly snubbed by Indian think-tanks, Kuldeep once again proved his mettle in the second ODI against Sri Lanka on Thursday. He along with Siraj destroyed the Sri Lankan batting line up. Both took three wickets each. Kuldeep took three wickets for 51 runs in 10 overs, also won the ‘Man of the Match’ award.
India won the match by four wickets with KL Rahul remaining unbeaten on 64. Thanks to the performances of Kuldeep and Rahul, India took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Gambhir said after the match – he always remains consistent like this. It only shows his confidence. From what we have seen of Rohit Sharma, he has the ability to give that confidence to the young bowlers. Now the time has come that he should stand with Kuldeep Yadav. His bowling will be of great benefit in international cricket.
Kuldeep’s bowling will be crucial in the Australia Test series. If you keep Kuldeep in the shed and don’t let him play the ODI format and you suddenly bring him in for the Test series, he will have less bowling practice.
Gambhir praised Kuldeep –
Gambhir said- I think Kuldeep should blossom in every ODI till Australia Test series because he is going to be very important in that series. For me, he is going to be the X-factor ahead of R Ashwin, Akshar. In fact, Kuldeep was recently included in the squad for the first match of the two-match Test series against Bangladesh. He was also the man of the match in that match, but he was dropped in the very next test.
There was a lot of criticism of the team management for this. India has to play the third ODI against Sri Lanka on January 15 in Thiruvananthapuram. After this, the team will play three-match ODI and T20I series against New Zealand. The Test series between India and Australia will start from February 9.
With 58.93 per cent marks, the Indian team remains at the second position in the points table of the Test Championship. Now India has to play four Test matches against Australia at home. On winning these four matches, India will have 68.06 percent points.
In this situation, Team India will easily reach the finals. Although India can reach the finals even if they win this series by a small margin, Sri Lanka and South Africa are also in the race for the finals. In such a situation, if India loses the series, Sri Lanka or South Africa can win the rest of their matches and play the final.