Will Kuldeep Yadav play Ahmedabad Test against West Indies? Test skipper Gill addresses possibility

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], October 1 (ANI): Test captain Shubman Gill divulged that India is still mulling over its combination ahead of the opening Test against the West Indies in Ahmedabad on Thursday, hinting at the possibility of Kuldeep Yadav being sacrificed for batting depth and team combination.

India premier spinner in the white-ball format, Kuldeep, sat on the sidelines for the entirety of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England earlier this year. He returned to the on-field action in the T20I fold and weaved magic with his spinning deliveries.

Kuldeep ended India Asia Cup-winning campaign as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 17 scalps under his belt in seven appearances. Despite his recent exploits, Gill, who described Kuldeep exclusion during the England tour as unfortunate, believes the final call on his return would depend on how the surface pans out and the best-suited combination against the Caribbean team.

I mean, the wickets, the weather and the wickets that we have in India, it will be difficult to follow that template. But when you have such quality in your team, you know, someone like Kuldeep, who is such a wicket-taker for us in all the formats, didnt get a chance to play in England, which was very unfortunate. Here, I think playing four spinners and spinners of such quality when you have Washington, when you have Jadeja, Kuldeep, Axar, you are always tempted, Gill said while speaking to reporters in the pre-match press conference.

But you also have to, you know, look at the batting depth, and you have to look at how the wicket is going to play. And you have to just, I think, weigh in your options, which player can give you a little bit more on that kind of surface. And those are the calls I think we will take, depending on how we think the wicket is going to play and what challenges we are going to face, he added.

Kuldeep return to the Test circuit remains in ambiguity, with Gill admitting that the hosts might be tempted to add a third quick in the final XI, considering the amount of grass on the Ahmedabad strip.

Youll know our playing XI tomorrow. Yes, looking at the conditions, we might be tempted to go with a third seamer. But there still time. In the morning, well see how much moisture is in the wicket and then take a call, Gill said.

India Test squad against West Indies: Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, N Jagadeesan (WK), Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav. (ANI)

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