Michael Clarke: Former Australian captain Michael Clarke reckons that Kuldeep Yadav could be the X-factor in the Indian team during the five-match Test series in England. Clarke opined that if India go on to win the series, the left-arm wrist spinner would be a big contributor in the result.
Michael Clarke: India will go into the five-match Test series against England as underdogs. They have arrived for the series with a young squad led by Shubman Gill, with both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli having retired from Test cricket. Before leaving for the series, the Indian management confirmed that lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah would not play all five Tests as part of his workload management.
Michael Clarke: Analyzing the above factors, Clarke opined that India will miss their experienced players during the grueling tour of England. While admitting that Bumrah not playing all matches could be a crucial factor, he also termed Mohammad Shami’s absence as huge. However, speaking to RevSportz, Clarke asserted that Kuldeep could play the role of a match-winner. He commented:
“I love seeing Kuldeep out there. I do. I think he’s earned the right to be India’s first-pick spinner. I think he’s a match-winner. I think he has an X-factor. And I think he will be defining. If India win the series, I think Kuldeep Yadav could be the difference. He’s that big a player, in my opinion, in this Indian team.”
📸 📸 … 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗿𝗮𝗽 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗺! pic.twitter.com/VSn1kHozTy
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 15, 2025
Michael Clarke: On the flip side, the 44-year-old stated that India would have been a much stronger side had Rohit, Kohli and Shami been part of the tour. Pointing out that England is one of the toughest places to play cricket, he explained:
“I just think if you had a fully fit Bumrah playing five Test match matches, with a Shami, with a Virat Kohli’s experience and class, with an experienced tactician in Rohit Sharma – I think it looked a very, very different squad.”
Intra-squad Game in Beckenham 📍
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 15, 2025
𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁𝘀' 𝗣. 𝗢. 𝗩
WATCH 🎥🔽 #TeamIndia | #ENGvINDhttps://t.co/IgKgF9SjmB
Michael Clarke: While Kohli and Rohit retired from Test cricket last month, Shami was declared unfit to travel to England. The right-arm pacer missed the tour of Australia as well due to the same reason.
Michael Clarke: A glance at India’s bowling attack for England Tests
In the spin department, Kuldeep is likely to lead the attack. Veteran left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and young off spinner Washington Sundar are also part of the team. Both Jadeja and Sundar can contribute significantly with the bat as well. It will be interesting to see what spin combination India go in with for the first Test in Leeds, which starts on June 20.
