New era begins with Afghanistan Test, Indian spin attack will change after 15 years. Kuldeep Yadav Backs Young Spinners As India Prepares For Test Without Ashwin And Jadeja

New Chandigarh: The test match against Afghanistan is like the beginning of a new phase for Indian cricket. This will be the first time in the last 15 years that Team India will play a Test match on home ground without its two legendary spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Earlier this had happened in November 2010, when Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha took charge of the spin against New Zealand in Nagpur.

This time the circumstances have changed. Ashwin had announced his retirement from international cricket during the Australian tour of 2024-25. At the same time, Jadeja is out of this match due to an injury suffered during the recently concluded IPL season. It will not be easy to fill the void of Ashwin-Jadeja pair, but Kuldeep Yadav is fully ready to take the new responsibility of the Indian spin attack.

If Kuldeep plays in this match starting from Saturday, it will be the first Test of his career in which neither Ashwin nor Jadeja will be with him. Kuldeep admitted that Jadeja and Akshar Patel who are out of the team will be missed in the dressing room. However, he also made it clear that he has full confidence in the new young players coming to the team.

Kuldeep said, “Jadeja is an important part of the Test team, his absence is a big loss for us. We will also miss Akshar Patel. But our preparation is good. There are many young players in the team like Harsh Dubey and Manav Suthar. Washington Sundar is also active in Test cricket now.” Kuldeep stressed that even though Harsh Dubey and Manav Suthar are brand new to international cricket, the lack of experience will not affect their performance.

He said that India’s domestic cricket structure and training program prepares young players well to face the challenges of five-day cricket.