Allrounders provide the spin and skill in the tale

The Kuldeep plight in England will caution future spinners to hone their batting skills to improve selection chances

- Sanjjeev K Samyal

For young players who want to take up cricket with the sole focus on becoming a good spinner, the England Test series was a cautionary tale.

The spinner who is considered a match-winner and was in good form, Kuldeep Yadav, had to warm the bench for all five Tests.

It sent a clear message to domestic coaches as well as the aspiring spinners that in modern cricket just being a good bowler is not enough. It's not just Tests. Even in other formats, you will be in and out of the team. At the 2024 T20 World Cup, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja were the first choice. Kuldeep played as per the opposition and venue. In the ICC Champions Trophy in March, Jadeja and Axar were first choice. Kuldeep played when India fielded three spinners, and Varun Chakravarthy came in when India decided to go with four tweakers because of the spin-friendly surfaces in Dubai.

In a couple of series, Chakrav-arthy has been in the XI, bamboozling batters with his unorthodox bowling. But he has played just four ODIs and only 18 T20Is so far. T20 is not a game for specialists, unless you are a power-hitter or a mystery spinner. Rest are all required to be multidimensional.