Former Australia captain urges India to include THIS key player in second England Test

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has urged India to make a key change to their playing XI in the second Test against England, starting from 2 July at Edgbaston.

Speaking on his YouTube channel ahead of the second Test, Clarke advocated for the inclusion of left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav into the India playing XI.

“Bowling-wise, I do not want to be hard on any individual, but I think they’ve got to play Kuldeep Yadav. I think it is an absolute no-brainer. I think he’s a wicket-taker and would have offered a lot more than what he saw the attack did in this Test match,” he said.

Michael Clarke emphasised the importance of wicket-taking ability, noting that Indian bowlers should find more ways of taking wickets.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Bumrah’s a star, he’s leading that attack. But the other three fast bowlers, yes at stages bowled well, but they need to find more ways of taking wickets, more options, and their execution has probably got to be better,” he said

The 44-year-old shed light on Ravindra Jadeja’s form while mentioning his second innings performance against England in the opening Test.

“Jadeja didn’t have the impact that I thought he might have. Particularly in the second innings I thought there was lot of rough to the left-hander.

I thought he bowled a little bit straight. He could have been a bit wider into the rough, and even to the right-hander, utilise over the wicket into the rough looking for that LBW in front of the stumps,” Michael Clarke concluded.

For the unversed, England defeated India by five wickets at Leeds, taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series.

Ben Duckett starred for the home team with a 149-run knock, while India became the first team to suffer defeat despite five players scoring hundreds.

READ: Jofra Archer named in England squad for second Test against India