India pulled off a surprise move on Friday morning at the Eden Gardens when captain Shubman Gill revealed the possibility of a left-field No.3 for the side against South Africa after Sai Sudharsan was dropped from the XI for the in-form Dhruv Jurel.
With Jurel playing as a specialist bat alongside the return of Rishabh Pant, India also made the move to play all four of their spinners with all-rounder Washington Sundar listed at No. 3 in the team sheet. India spin legend Anil Kumble was left baffled with the team management’s move to fit in a string of all-rounders into the XI, with Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel also slotted down the order.
FOLLOW LIVE: IND vs SA Day 1 Updates
“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,” said Kumble on the official broadcast before the start of play.
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Co-incidentally, India also ended up naming six left-handers in the side for the first time in their Test history.
‘Expected 3 spinners’
“I certainly expected 3 spinners to play and 2 fast bowlers. So, that’s going to be a bit of a challenge. 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,” Kumble added.
Most left-handed batterss in an Indian Test match XI:
6* vs SA at Kolkata, 2025*
5 vs ENG at Manchester, 2025
5 vs WI at Ahmedabad, 2025
5 vs WI at Delhi, 2025
India’s record Test wicket-taker was also left displeased with the nature of the playing XI, fielding a horde of all-rounders.
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“It’s all-rounders. I mean, if you look at the batting lineup, Washington Sundar has been slotted at 3. So, obviously, if he bats at 3, then the batters are Shubman, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul. The rest of them are all-rounders. I consider Rishabh Pant as an all-rounder,” said Kumble.
“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,” he added.
