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Ind vs Ban: 'He must play,' Sanjay Manjrekar calls for THIS player's inclusion in India XI for Kanpur Test

Ind vs Ban: 'He must play,' Sanjay Manjrekar calls for THIS player's inclusion in India XI for Kanpur Test

Ind vs Ban: Sanjay Manjrekar calls for THIS player's inclusion in India's XI for Kanpur Test

India beat Bangladesh by 280 runs on Day 4 of the first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday (Sep 22). Riding on R Ashwin's 108, India posted 376and dismissed Bangladesh for a mere 149 before declaring their second innings at 287/4, with centuries from Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill, to set up a daunting 515-run chase. In reply, the Bangla Tigers folded for 234, courtesy of Ashwin's 6 for 88, to win and take a 1-0 lead. Soon after, BCCI announced an unchanged squad for the second and final Test, in Kanpur, which gets underway on Sep 27.

Former Indian batter-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar reflected on India's stunning win and called for the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav.

Talking on ESPNCricinfo, Manjrekar said, "I feel Kuldeep Yadav should not be dropped so easily. Even if it was not a turner, India would have benefited from playing him in Chennai because seamers get help for just one or one-and-a-half days on an Indian pitch. It starts supporting spinners after that, and when you have a bowler like Kuldeep Yadav, you should not keep him out this easily."

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"India should go with this approach in Kanpur. Even if it's a green top and the sun is out, they should keep in mind that the green top will be just for the first few hours, and Siraj and Bumrah are enough for that. When you have three proven spinners, you should play all of them," Manjrekar added.

Kuldeep was part of India's 4-1 Test series win, at home, versus England early this year. In four Tests, he ended with 19 scalps and was also part of Rohit Sharma-led India's victorious run in the 2024 T20 World Cup, in West Indies and the USA. He returned with 10 wickets at an average of 13.90 and an economyof 6.95. Thus, he is in great form and it would be interesting to see if he gets added to the playing XI for the final Test.

India squad for second Test against Bangladesh:Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal