India vs England 2021: Madan Lal Questions India's Team Selection In The First Test

Former Indian seamer Madan Lal has reckoned that the Virat Kohli-led side has not fielded a balanced attack in the ongoing first Test against England at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

On what has turned out to be a placid pitch devoid of turn or sideways movement thus far, the Indian bowling attack which consists of two-seamers in Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah and three spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar, and Shahbaz Nadeem has struggled to pose any threat to the English batting-unit.

The two inexperienced spinners in Nadeem and Washington, especially, have failed to make any sort of impact and their selection has come under the scanner given the fact that Kuldeep Yadav once again did not find a place in the playing 11. According to Madan Lal, India should have added the third pacer in Mohammed Siraj in their playing 11 instead of playing three spinners.

“I think India have not played with a balanced bowling attack. They should have played with three pacers and two spinners. Ishant Sharma has only just returned from an injury, so it would have been wise to play him after 1-2 Tests. They also dropped Mohammed Siraj, who bowled so well in Australia.” Madan Lal told Sports Tak.

At the toss, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli said that Washington Sundar’s ability to contribute with the bat was the reason behind him getting picked in the playing 11.’

According to Madan Lal, if India wanted to add batting strength in their lower-order, then they should have played Shardul Thakur in place of Washington Sundar besides including Kuldeep Yadav as the second spinner alongside Kuldeep Yadav.

”If you wanted to bat deep, you could have played Shardul Thakur ahead of Washington Sundar and could have gone with Kuldeep Yadav over Shahbaz Nadeem,” Madan Lal added.

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