Will India be able to fit Kuldeep Yadav into their playing XI?

India have played very well over large parts of the first four Tests. If they right some of their tactics ahead of the fifth game, they’ll give themselves the best chance of a drawn series.

India’s magnificent rearguard action in the fourth Test against England has ensured they will go into the fifth and final game with the series still alive. While India can’t win the series now, they can come away with a draw if they win at The Oval. If they do that, it will mark a significant uptick in Shubman Gill’s career as Test captain.

Gill has had a baptism by fire, thrown into a five-Test series away, in a country where it’s not easy to win. His batting has hit a sublime level, and tactically, he will only grow and learn from this tough tour.

When he does look back at it though, he might reflect that were it not for key moments and decisions, India might well have been 2-1 up instead of down, already insured from the possibility of a series defeat.

Kuldeep is a classical wrist-spinner, and a leftie to boot. That combination alone is rare enough in international cricket that he starts off with an advantage. In addition, he has shown great mastery over flight and length whenever he has been given the opportunity to play for India. He has 56 wickets in 13 Tests at an average of 22.2 and a strike rate of 37.3. Those are elite numbers. But those 13 Tests have come across a whopping 8 years, because he was playing in the era of R Ashwin and Jadeja, two who are probably part of an all-time India Test XI.

That is the past though. What matters now is whether an attack with Kuldeep in it gives India better wicket-taking potency. If it does, then the team management has to find a way to get him into the XI.

If the question becomes - who to drop among Jadeja and Washington, the answer is simple. Don’t drop either of them. Bring Kuldeep in for a pacer. It appears to fly in the face of conventional wisdom for India to have three spinners in an XI for a Test in England. But it makes sense for India, because their third and fourth seamers in each Test have hardly posed any wicket-taking threat. Even if India have all of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep - their three best seamers - fit and available, they could still add the spin trio to the attack.

That is, of course, provided the pitch at The Oval is not a complete green mamba, where spinners are going to be less than marginal. In every other scenario, this could be a workable attack, while giving India the batting depth that Jadeja and Washington bring.

In part, India’s uncertainty over runs from the top order has contributed to their bowling attack choices. They have given preference to batting ability for their No.8.

However, on most days, your No.8 isn’t going to contribute game-changing runs. The superior bowler on the other hand, has a higher chance of picking game-changing wickets. 

Shardul Thakur has now played two of the four Tests, and bowled a grand total of 27 overs across them. It is grossly unfair on the player, and doesn’t help the team.

Coach Gautam Gambhir does have a propensity to favour depth in both batting and bowling, but the depth is illusory in Test cricket if the player picked cannot contribute with reasonable consistency in at least one of the disciplines.

And while picking a superior bowler may mean some runs are sacrificed, it also means that the opposition has a much greater challenge to score runs. Against the aggressive and deep batting line-up that England go with, the better bowler logically gives India a better chance of success.

That said, it shouldn’t be forgotten that India have played some pretty good cricket over the first four Tests. If they can right some of the tactics ahead of the fifth Test, they’ll give themselves an excellent chance of drawing the series.