Irfan wants Kuldeep in squad

"You don't get left-arm wrist spinners everyday," former pacer Irfan Pathan said, firmly backing Kuldeep Yadav and hoped that there will be place for him in the Indian team for the Test-series against England.

Yadav has been warming the bench for more than three months now but Pathan said he is a unique bowler who would do well in the upcoming Test assignment, starting February 5 in Chennai.

"It is very important from the team management point of view, how they keep mindset of a player, who is not playing. I am sure they must be doing a right job, and that's why the guys, when we saw some of the youngsters, they came and played really well," Pathan told PTI in an interaction.

"I am sure they must be supporting and backing Kuldeep Yadav because he has got immense talent. You don't find left-arm wrist spinners on every-day-basis.

"He is a unique bowler. The guys is about 25-26 and this is where he is going to get maturity. Whenever he gets opportunity, first Test, second Test, whenever he will be raring to go and I am pretty sure that he will do well."

Further making a case for Yadav to play against England, Pathan cited history.

"When it comes to England, look at the history, if you are a leg-spinner, you always have a chance of performing well, I just hope that whenever he plays, he does really well and he does," added Pathan, who has played 29 Tests and 120 ODIs for India.

Yadav has so far played six Tests and picked 24 wickets. He played his last Test against Australia at Sydney in January 2019.

Asked about combination of the series-opener, Pathan said fielding three spinners would not be a bad option, considering the nature of the Chennai pitch.

"It depends on the wickets but there is a high chance in Chennai they play three spinners because we see how Chennai pitch can really help the spinners with that extra bounce as well and the soil, which is very conducive for spin bowling," he elaborated.