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KL Rahul defends decision to bench third spinner Yadav in vital Test match

The win in Dhaka gives India a major boost going into the Australia home series, as well as chances of making it to the ICC World Test Championship final

Published: Mon 26 Dec 2022, 8:53 AM

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  • ANI

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Photo: AFP

Photo: AFP

Stand-in skipper KL Rahul backed the team's decision to not play Kuldeep Yadav in the second Test after India completed a 2-0 series victory in the series.

Bangladesh were effectively 26/6 in the second innings with India having an 87-run first-innings lead. Still, India were eventually left chasing 145 in the fourth innings after a fight from the lower order.


Spinners took 12 of the 16 wickets that went to bowlers in the third and fourth innings of the Test, but skipper Rahul backed the decision to go with the three quicks while not playing Kuldeep — the Player of the Match from the first Test.

"It was a tough call, knowing and understanding that he had just won the Test for us," Rahul said.

"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."

"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," added KL Rahul

"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 explained.

The win in Dhaka gives India a major boost going into the Australia home series with their chances of making the ICC World Test Championship final well and truly on.

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