Kuldeep waits on Test call after white-ball wickets in ODI

NOTTINGHAM, United Kingdom: Kuldeep Yadav hopes his recent limited-overs performances will prompt India’s selectors to include him in their squad for the upcoming Test series in England.

The left-arm wrist spinner took a superb One-Day International best 6-25 in his maximum 10 overs as India beat England by eight wickets at Trent Bridge on Thursday to go 1-0 up in a three-match series.

That followed the 23-year-old’s 5-24 in the first Twenty20 International against England at Old Trafford on July 3 — a series India won 2-1.

His latest haul — the best by any spinner in an ODI against England — helped India dismiss the hosts for 268 in Nottingham, with opener Rohit Sharma then making 137 not out as the tourists won with nearly 10 overs remaining.

Left-arm wrist spinners are a rarity in top-level cricket and England’s batsmen are struggling to pick which way Yadav is turning the ball. After the One-Dayers, India remain in England for a five-Test series.

With Britain, by its standards, experiencing something of a heatwave, pitches around the country are dry and receptive to spin, rather than the traditional green surfaces beloved of seam bowlers.

Yadav’s recent success, allied to favourable conditions, has led to suggestions he could be included in the Test squad due to be announced by India’s selectors over the weekend.

In recent times India have tended to deploy the experienced pair of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left-arm orthodox Ravindra Jadeja as their specialist slow bowlers in the five-day game. But as he reflected on his heroics at Trent Bridge, Yadav made it clear he wanted to add to his tally of nine wickets in two Tests — the last against Sri Lanka in Pallekele in August 2017.

England’s top three batsmen were in devastating form during a preceding 5-0 series rout of Australia last month — which included a men’s ODI record total of 481-6 at Trent Bridge on June 19.

But on Thursday, albeit with opener Alex Hales missing with a side injury that has ruled him out of the entire series, Yadav removed an England top three of Jason Roy, Test skipper Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow in a stunning spell of three wickets for five runs in 10 balls.

Score Board

TOSS: INDIA

ENGLAND INNINGS

Roy c Umesh b Kuldeep 38

Bairstow lbw b Kuldeep 38

Root lbw b Kuldeep 3

Morgan c Raina b Chahal 19

Stokes c Kaul b Kuldeep 50

Buttler c Dhoni b Kuldeep 53

Ali c Kohli b Umesh 24

Willey c Rahul b Kuldeep 1

Rashid c Pandya b Umesh 22

Plunkett run out 10

Wood not out 0

Extras (LB-5, W-5) 10

Total (all out, 49.5 overs) 268

Fall of wickets: 1-73, 2-81, 3-82, 4-105, 5-198, 6-214, 7-216, 8-245, 9-261, 10-268.

BOWLING: U Yadav 9.5-0-70-2 (2w); Kaul 10-0-62-0; Chahal 10-0-51-1; Pandya 7-0-47-0 (2w); K Yadav 10-0-25-6; Raina 3-1-8-0 (1w).

INDIA INNINGS

Sharma not out 137

Dhawan c Rashid b Ali 40

Kohli st Buttler b Rashid 75

Rahul not out 9

Extras (W-8) 8

Total (2 wkts, 40.1 overs) 269

Fall of wickets: 1-59, 2-226.

BOWLING: Wood 6-0-55-0 (1w); Willey 5-0-25-0; Ali 8.1-0-60-1 (1w); Plunkett 6-0-31-0; Stokes 4-0-27-0 (1w); Rashid 10-0-62-1; Root 1-0-9-0 (4w).