Axar Patel or Kuldeep Yadav? Harbhajan Singh reveals who team India will go with in the Hyderabad Test

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh who is regularly seen as a pundit and expert analyst in various outlets has backed all-rounder Axar Patel to start ahead of left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav due to the latter’s ability with the bat and pair along with senior spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

When a Test series takes place in India, spinners have a better edge than pacers and it’s not even a secret anymore. Every team that comes for a tour here knows that they will need to have a sufficient amount of patience and skills to be able to counter Indian spinners who are very smart in their home conditions.

For that reason, the Indian management picked 4 spinners and 4 pacers in the squad for the first two Tests in Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam. There are also indications that a rotation policy will be applied on the pace battery and that no fast bowler will play all 5 Tests, meaning the onus and bonus will be on the spinners.

With 2 off-spinners almost certain to play – Jadeja and Ashwin, the Indian management will gamble upon either Axar Patel or Kuldeep Yadav as the 3rd option to support the veterans. Rahul Dravid and Co. will not consider anyone based on their stats but on their current form and the pitch conditions.

While many believe that Kuldeep will be a good option as he will bring in variety through his wrist spin but Bhajji has stated that Axar Patel due to his superiority with the bat, should be picked over the chinaman. Harbhajan claimed that if India are looking for variation then Kuldeep will be a good option but picking Axar will ensure they have depth in their batting order.

Harbhajan also said that India’s batting performance in excessive turning tracks has not been that great and that is why it becomes even more important for them to have a longer batting tail.

“The way I look at it is that when both R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are in playing eleven and you are looking at a third specialist spinner, it should be Kuldeep. Because Kuldeep as a wrist spinner will bring that variation. But I believe Axar’s selection in Test matches is purely on his batting skills. At No 8 or 9, he can bat and that’s what he brings to the table.” – Harbhajan said. 

Harbhajan Singh Hails Axar Patel And Calls Him The “Target Shooter”

The Turbanator who retired from Test cricket after scalping 417 wickets, claimed that Ashwin and Jadeja will provide excessive turn with their finger spin but they also require someone who can constantly hit the wicket-to-wicket line without steering off the plan and that’s exactly where Axar Patel excels. The Gujarati all-rounder is very economical because of his disciplined line length and ability to hit the target.

“On turners, you need a ”target shooter”. One who would just keep on bowling wicket to wicket. When it comes to that discipline, Axar Patel is fantastic at target hitting and hence he remains the favorite.” – Harbhajan Singh concluded.