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“Who will bat at 3?”: Anil Kumble surprised as India drops Sai Sudharsan in first Test

Aakash Saini

Sai Sudharsan and Anil Kumble [Source: AFP, @Teamindiacrick/x]Sai Sudharsan and Anil Kumble [Source: AFP, @Teamindiacrick/x]

Former Indian spinner Anil Kumble has slammed the Indian team management over the selection of India’s playing XI for the first Test of the two-match series against South Africa. It is worth noting that Sai Sudharsan was dropped from the team, while Dhruv Jurel received another crack at the playing XI even though regular wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has made his return to the national side.

Anil Kumble also expressed his surprised over the fact that bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar has been given the number three slot in India’s batting order at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Anil Kumble says he expected 3 spinners in playing XI

Anil Kumble was visibly left perplexed over India’s decision of promoting bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar up the batting order, at the expense of a specialist number three Sai Sudharsan. He also stated that he did not expect the Indian team management to pick four spinners in the same playing XI.

While speaking with the official broadcasters of India vs South Africa Test series, Anil Kumble said:

“Really surprised at the lineup because I certainly expected Sai Sudarshan to be playing in this Test match. Who’s going to bat at No.3? That will be the question. Washington Sundar has been slotted to bat at No.3 so India will be bowling first. 4 spinners and 2 fast bowlers. I certainly expected 3 spinners to play and 2 fast bowlers.”

Anil Kumble further stated that the surface indicates that the Indian team does not require four spinners, and predicted one of them to be “under-bowled”.

“Day 1, the wicket is good. It’s not like you need 4 spinners and one of them will certainly get under-bowled. So, it’s going to be interesting to see how Shubman Gill uses his resources on Day 1. Of course, the 2 new ball bowlers will become that much more critical on day 1 for India.”

After analyzing the current playing XI, Anil Kumble also acknowledged the fact that the Indian team management might be leaning towards building an all-rounder heavy side.

“I consider Rishabh Pant as an all-rounder. Dhruv Jhurel is an all-rounder. Then you have Jadeja, Akshar Patel and Washington Sundar. So, it’s a team full of all-rounders, and that’s probably the kind of team that India is going with in all 3 formats of the game.”

As it happened, Team India, under Shubman Gill, picked up five South African wickets around the halfway stage of the day, with Jasprit Bumrah being the pick of them. At the time of publishing, South Africa reached 131-5.