Kuldeep for Shardul could be only change in 2nd Test

India head coach Gautam Gambhir defended captain Shubman Gill's decision to under bowl Shardul Thakur in the series opener against England but it would be tough to justify his selection in the second Test beginning on July 2.

- Agencies

Agencies [e-mail] NEW DELHI: India head coach Gautam Gambhir defended captain Shubman Gill's decision to under bowl Shardul Thakur in the series opener against England but it would be tough to justify his selection in the second Test beginning on July 2.

In his first Test since December 2023, Shardul was underutilised in the pace department and was rather underwhelming with the bat, totalling five off 20 balls across two innings.

Questions were raised about his presence in the playing eleven ahead of a specialist bowler when he rolled his arm over for six overs in the first innings before bowling 10 in the second.

Like he often does, Shardul did pick a couple of wickets out of nowhere to raise hopes of an Indian comeback on day five but the bite in his bowling was missing. He, alongside the likes of Prasidh Krishna, offered too many loose balls, lacking consistency to test the opposition batters.