"Why aren't you playing that kind of bowler?" - Saba Karim suggests changes in India's XI for ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Former India player Saba Karim has urged Shubman Gill and company to include Kuldeep Yadav in their playing XI for the second Test against England. He highlighted that the left-arm wrist-spinner enjoyed great success against the England batters in India.

England beat India by five wickets in the first Test in Leeds on Tuesday, June 24. The visitors played three specialist seamers in Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, and two bowling all-rounders in Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja in the first game of the five-match series.

During a discussion on Sony Sports, Saba Karim opined that Kuldeep Yadav should be a part of India's playing XI for the second Test, highlighting that the England batters are unable to read the spinner.

"Stats are the witness. Kuldeep Yadav took 17 wickets against England in the home series. When he releases the ball, no English batter is able to understand it. So why aren't you playing that kind of bowler? He is an attacking bowler for you. India need attacking bowlers at the moment," he said.

The former India wicketkeeper-batter added that the visitors should play four potent bowlers, especially if they include Nitish Kumar Reddy as a batting all-rounder at No. 7.

"If you are playing a batting all-rounder in the form of Nitish Kumar Reddy, the four remaining bowlers need to be wicket-taking options. India will have to go with bold moves. There is no need for defensive decisions. We are trailing 1-0, this is the time to take courageous and bold decisions which will be in India's favor," Saba observed.

Kuldeep Yadav has picked up 56 wickets at an average of 22.16 in 13 Tests. He accounted for 19 dismissals at an average of 20.15 in four home Tests against England last year.

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"Your top order and middle order have batted well to a certain extent" - Saba Karim on India's takeaways from ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

Rishabh Pant scored centuries in both innings of the first Test against England. [P/C: Getty]

In the same discussion, Saba Karim picked batting, Jasprit Bumrah's bowling, and Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna's second-innings performances as the positives for India from the first Test against England.

"We have lost the Test match for sure, but what are the takeaways for India? Your top order and middle order have batted well to a certain extent. They have scored five hundreds. Jasprit Bumrah's bowling has always been incredible, but much improved performance from Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna in the second innings," he said.

However, the former India selector noted that the visitors cannot afford to let England back into the game when they are on top.

"The biggest learning will be that when you are in an advantageous position, you cannot give England a comeback chance. We made that mistake two times. We made that same mistake in both the first and second innings, and I feel the match turned from there," Saba Karim observed.

Saba Karim pointed out that India were thinking about giving a target close to 425 in the final innings. He added that it couldn't happen because of the collapse in the second innings, a repeat of what happened in the first innings, which needs to be avoided in the upcoming matches.

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Edited by Kartik Iyer