Why India need Kuldeep Yadav's wrist spin to attack Bazball's blind spot

Not playing in games your team loses is the fastest way to look like a better player. But the growing calls for India to pick Kuldeep Yadav in the upcoming Tests go beyond simple hindsight or scapegoating.

Bazball (and every other team)'s blind spot – wrist spin

Since the start of the 2021 summer, England have played 27 Tests at home. The only six balls of wrist spin they have faced in those games were bowled by Steve Smith at Lord’s in 2023.

In other words, Bazball hasn’t been tested by wrist spin at home, at all.

It’s partly because wrist spin in Test cricket has been a dying art for a while. Only four of them have taken more than 20 wickets since the start of 2021 - Abrar Ahmed, whose classification as a wrist-spinner is dicey; Rehan Ahmed, who has played five Tests in Asia and barely gets to bowl for his county side; Rashid Khan, who has played two Tests against Zimbabwe; and Kuldeep. The last frontline leggie to play a Test in England was Yasir Shah in 2020.

Read more: Does wrist-spin stand on the cusp of its next significant evolution?

Even beyond the Test level, there’s little evidence to suggest that the current crop of England’s batters have faced enough quality wrist-spin in first-class cricket. The current county pool simply doesn’t offer that challenge. None of the leg spinners currently active in the county circuit average under 30.

Rehan, England’s first-choice Test leggie, has a first-class bowling average of 42.25. Matt Parkinson, who has a claim to be the best active red-ball wrist-spinner in the country, averages 31.05. Mason Crane (155) and Matt Critchley (207) are the only two active leg spinners in England apart from Parkinson (221) to have taken more than 150 first-class wickets.

First-class record of active English leg-spinners

The only notable exposure the Bazball-era batters have had to wrist spin came in Pakistan and India in 2022 and 2024. Abrar and Zahid Mahmood - averaging 37 and 38 against England - were rather nonchalantly taken down on the flat Rawalpindi and Multan surfaces before Pakistan decided to dish out dust heaps. But Kuldeep in India was the one they weren’t able to crack, as he consistently outfoxed them in challenging, but not ragging conditions at home.

From the four Tests he played in the 2024 series, Kuldeep picked up 19 wickets at 20.15, often turning games on his own even with Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja alongside.

Also read: Kuldeep Yadav scales the mountains to reconquer Dharamshala

Yet all of this was already true before the first ball was bowled at Headingley, which only makes Kuldeep’s omission feel more like an avoidable error, one which the Indian side cannot afford to make come Edgbaston.

Headingley result makes Kuldeep Yadav's case for inclusion stronger

It’s hard to say exactly how different Headingley might have been with Kuldeep, but equally hard to imagine he wouldn’t have made a substantial impact. His absence was felt the strongest on the final day, when England made short work of a tall chase, hammering India’s third and fourth seamers at 6.1 and 5.1 runs per over. Even Jadeja was made to look out of sorts as he conceded more than 100 runs in the fourth innings for the first time in his career.

Kuldeep’s inferior batting skills compared to Jadeja have usually worked against him away from home, but that may no longer be a barrier. Fortunately India now have someone like Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has already proven his batting abilities in Australia and can slot in at No.7 in place of Jadeja, while Kuldeep can replace Shardul Thakur at eight. The other option is to play both Jadeja and Kuldeep together.

Ahead of the series, Kuldeep spoke about how it is important to combat the aggressive batting style of this England side with similarly aggressive bowling. “I played against England last year, and have the idea about their playing style. The only thing is that one has to be very alert all the time and stay focused,” he told RevSportz.

“Unlike other teams, with England, one cannot relax and play defensive. England bat in a very aggressive manner so one has to very much be in the game and plan your overs accordingly.”

“Even in English conditions, they must go with quality bowlers. If that means playing two spinners, so be it,” said former India international Sanjay Manjrekar after the Headingley Test. “Pick your best bowlers, irrespective of the conditions. Let’s also acknowledge that English summers these days are largely dry – thanks to global warming, perhaps – and that does open the door for spin.”

Also read: Why global warming could prompt India to play two spinners in England

If India pick only one spinner, could it be Kuldeep?

Edgbaston has typically been a spinner’s graveyard though, particularly in the Bazball era, with the slower bowlers averaging 50.47 from three games. That might tilt the scales more in favour of picking just one spinner.

Jadeja’s poor record in England over a large sample size - no other frontline spinner to have bowled in more than 20 innings in the country has a worse average than Jadeja’s 48.07 - and England’s unfamiliarity with Kuldeep’s style of bowling must make the latter an obvious choice.

Of course, he might still be taken apart. Bowling against this unit in England is just as unfamiliar for Kuldeep as well. But it’s a strangely unexplored blind spot that India cannot afford to let England get away with any further when they have a potential trump card up their sleeves.

The last time India picked a frontline spinner not expected to contribute significantly with the bat in a SENA Test was in 2019 in Sydney. Kuldeep, who took a five-for in that game, was hailed by then India coach Ravi Shastri as their “No.1 overseas spinner”. Yet somehow, he hasn't featured in another SENA Test since. Six years later, all the ducks are finally in a row for him to reclaim that mantle.

Follow Wisden for all England vs India updates, including live scores, latest news, team lineups, schedule and more. The live streaming details for the ENG vs IND series in India, UK, USA and rest of the world can be found here. For Wisden quizzes, head here.