Rohit admits to squad selection headache for third spinner in England Tests

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma on Wednesday admitted that the team management had a tough time making the third spinner choice between Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav for the opening Test in the IND vs ENG Test series but hinted that the former might just have made the final cutBehind Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja India are primed to pick a third spinner for the first Test against England starting from ThursdayIf the wicket has bounce or if it doesnt have bounce he Kuldeep still is a factor in those types of conditions because hes got superb variations Obviously he is a very mature bowler now from what he was a few years back Rohit said in the prematch press conferenceHes not played a lot of Test cricket in India because of Ashwin and Jadeja Weve seen it in the past as well With our middleorder batting in the past a lot of us batters got an opportunity pretty lateBut thats the reality of it you cant hide away from it But yes hes a very tempting option he addedAlthough Rohit did not give away his final team for the match he indicated that Axar might just be the one on the final team sheetHe underlined the utility of the leftarm spinner as an allrounder the strongest clue about the think tanks preference for this Test at least He dispelled the notion that Axar packs similar abilities as Jadeja and as such he might slip down the pecking orderAxar you know with his allround ability gives us that batting depth The consistency that hes shown playing in these conditions in Test cricket also is an important factor for usBut it was a headache to decide who it is going to be for us But I am not going to say who it is said RohitThe 36yearold also hoped that premier spinner Ashwin will deliver one more time in conditions familiar to himAshwin obviously we know his class we know his quality Every time he plays the game for us he tends to impress all of us by a notch higher We do appreciate that Every time hes gotten an opportunity hes made sure to put the team ahead Hes shown it for a number of years now So yeah I hope this series is no different for him and he comes out and does what he does the best said RohitAlso ReadWill lsquoBazballrsquo unleash its artistry in IndiaAshwin is on the cusp of achieving twin milestones in his storied careerThe 37yearold offspinner is 10 wickets shy of the 500wicket mark in Tests and he can also complete 100 career Test matches if he plays all the five Tests in the seriesEngland are certain to bring their exciting Bazball brand of cricket into this series as well Rohit said his focus has been on the strategies of Team India rather than worrying about the oppositions approachYou need to be very clear in your mind you need to have a game plan when youre playing in these conditions and then back that plan whether its to defend tightly or whether it is to play some shots sweep reverse sweep whatever that is he saidDont be in two minds as to what you want to do as that is where you can get yourself into trouble Then you need to understand your own strengths because all of us have grown up playing in these types of conditions he addedRohit said the team that handles pressure better and consistently would do well in the IND vs ENG Test seriesIts just about handling that pressure of playing a Test match handling that pressure of quality spells from the opposition So that is the challenge that you need to handleYou stick to your own strengths stick to your plan and then go out and do that fearlessly he assertedWith agency inputs