Fresh off his winning show in India’s 188-point Chattogram Test win, Kuldeep was benched for an extra dressmaker in Jaydev Unadkat, a move that was criticized by the likes of Sunil Gavaskar.
“I don’t regret the decision. It was a good decision. If you look at the wickets, our fast bowlers also took a lot of wickets and they had a lot of assists. There were a lot of inconsistent rebounds,” said Rahul in defense. his decision during the post-game media interaction.
Struggling at 74 for 7 while chasing a tricky 145 on a tough day four track, India survived a scare as Ravichandran Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer pulled off an incredible three-wicket pursuit with an unbroken eighth wicket partnership of 71 runs.
“We made the decision bearing in mind our experience of playing here in the ODIs. We saw that there was assistance for both rotations and rebounds. It was to have a balanced squad and I think it was a good decision,” he added.
Kuldeep had made a spectacular comeback after 22 months, returning with an eight-wicket match-haul and also scored a valiant 40 in a crucial lower-order partnership with Ashwin. He was also named ‘Man of the Match’ in their first test at Chattogram.
“It was a really tough decision knowing he won us the last test. But seeing the pitch a day before the game we thought there would be help for the fast bowlers and tailors and With that in mind, we wanted to play the best and most balanced team possible,” Rahul said.
The team felt Kuldeep’s absence, especially on Bangladesh’s second try when India, with a crucial 87-point lead in the first set, struggled to eliminate the home side.
Bangladesh were 70 to 4 but went on to go 231.
Looking back, Rahul said he would have loved to have the Kuldeep bowl in the second set if he had had the option of ‘Impact Player‘ ruler who would make his IPL debut next year.
“Ideally, if the Impact Player rule was there – like in the IPL – I would have definitely loved bringing Kuldeep in the second run,” Rahul said.
The Impact Player of ‘Super Sub’ rule, which debuted at the 2020 Big Bash and was also seen in Syed Mushtaq Ali’s National T20s this season, means either team can make a substitution in a match .
Each team will submit four substitutes to the draw and any of them can enter as an ‘impact player’.
The two-test series proved disastrous for Rahul (57 runs, average: 14.25) and Virat Kohli (45 runs; 15.00) but the substitute skipper blamed it on the quick transition from white ball to red ball cricket.
“When you’re playing all three formats, it’s a bit difficult to switch from one format to another. Personally, it takes a bit of time to get back into the rhythm and understand, to remember what we were doing Well.
“Each format is a challenge on how quickly you can adapt… It’s a challenge that excites me.
“Obviously the performances in this series weren’t great. I can accept that. I tried my best and it didn’t work out. I can look ahead and see what I can do better next time,” he added.
Blaming it on their tight schedule, Rahul said: “Unfortunately our schedules are too tight for some of the players who play all formats to do it and get used to it too quickly.
“But that’s the challenge for us. Ideally, we would have liked a lot more time between the red ball and the white ball to get used to it, get back into playing red ball cricket and develop some patience and performance. .”
Iyer had a successful streak averaging 101 with two fifty. He was the second-best run-getter with 202 behind Cheteshwar Pujara (222) and his reassuring presence, especially in the second set, calmed things down.
“He’s been in the team for a long time. I’m so happy for him, he took the chance with both hands. The way he played today was phenomenal. He made it really easy,” said Rahul said.
