‘I don’t regret that’ – KL Rahul’s strong reply on dropping Kuldeep Yadav for 2nd Test
India pulled off a thrilling win against the Bangla Tigers in the second Test on Day 4, December 25, Sunday. To add more, chasing a target of 145, the Indian team were restricted to 74/7, on the back of a five-for from off-break bowler Mehidy Hasan. Ravichandran Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer guided India to a series win with their unbeaten 42 and 29 respectively.
However, there was one selection error from team India as they dropped the Player of the Match from the first Test. To add more, Kuldeep Yadav, who bagged the POTM award in the first Test, was eventually dropped for the second Test to make way for Jaydev Unadkat. While many opined that it was a bad call, the Indian skipper KL Rahul, was quick enough to defend his selection.
It was a tough call: KL Rahul
Saying that it was a tough call to make, Rahul claimed that his decision was not wrong, given that it was the pacers who took most of the wickets for the Indian team. Further, the right-handed batter added that it was the best decision for the Indian team, given that the Bangladeshi batters were vulnerable to the pace battery.
“It was a tough call, knowing and understanding that he had just won the Test for us. But seeing the pitch before the game and on the first day, we felt that there will be assistance for both fast bowlers and spinners. We wanted to play the best team we can. And that’s the call we made,” Rahul was quoted as saying after the epic win.
“I don’t regret that, and that was the right decision. If you see the 20 wickets we took, a lot of wickets [ten] even the fast bowlers took. They had a lot of assistance and there was a lot of inconsistent bounce. All these decisions we took keeping in mind the experience of playing here in the ODIs. We saw that there was assistance for both spin and fast bowlers. Understanding that a Test match goes on for four or five days, you need to have both,” he added.
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