Will Team India go with three spinners in the Pink Ball Test to be played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore? Will Axar Patel get a place in the team in place of Jayant Yadav? Will Jayant be replaced by Umesh Yadav or Mohammad Siraj in the team? All these questions have become the most discussed topics currently.
Recently, Team India has included Akshar Patel in the team instead of Kuldeep Yadav. However, throwing out a player in this way in the middle of the series is in a way humiliating him. If Kuldeep had been included in the team as the cover of Akshar Patel, it would have been understandable. It is clear from this that Kuldeep does not come in Team India’s scheme of things at present. As for the inclusion of Akshar in the pink ball test, that is most likely. Akshar took 11 wickets for 70 runs in Team India’s last Pink Ball Test played in Ahmedabad against England. His straighter one and full length deliveries proved to be very effective in that match. On similar straight balls, he took the wickets of legends like Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root. Anyway, if the ball is not pitched at the seam with the pink ball, then the chances of the ball skid increases. Axar Patel followed this strategy, for which the English batsmen had no answer.
In the pink ball test, it is generally believed that the pace of the fast bowlers in the evening and the use of floodlights causes a lot of trouble to the batsmen as the ball is not fully visible at that time and for the batsman staying on the crease becomes extremely challenging. Apart from this, on many occasions, it becomes very difficult for the batsmen to see the ball completely while facing pink ball. In such a situation, in the 18 day-night matches played so far, on most of the occasions the fast bowlers have been relied upon. But on another case, Australia are relying on Nathan Lyon, England Moeen Ali, Pakistan Yasir Shah, Bangladesh Tejas Islam, New Zealand Mitchell Santner and India R Ashwin in the Pink Ball Test. They all are dependable spinners. Most of the teams go into such matches with only one spinner. In this year’s pink ball test between Australia and England at Hobart, not a single spinner was fielded.
Despite all this, Devendra Bishoo, a leg spinner was successful taking eight wickets against Pakistan in an innings of a Pink Ball Test, but five wickets in the innings of Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah proved to be decisive which helped Pakistan to win the match. In the last Pink Ball Test against England in Ahmedabad, India had fielded three spinners, but the third spinner was played as a batsman. Then on the bowling front, Axar Patel and R Ashwin took charge. Washington Sundar was played but he was only given four deliveries in the entire match and in that too he was successful in getting a wicket.
Thus that match changed the opinion about the Pink Ball Test that it is cricket only for fast bowlers. In this match, 19 out of 20 wickets came from the spinners. R Ashwin took seven wickets in that match.
Hopefully, India will prefer Akshar Patel in playing XI in place of Jayant Yadav. Possibility to play with Umesh Yadav or Mohammed Siraj is very less. They can only get chance when out of these two, one will play in place of Mohammed Shami.
