Why Kuldeep Yadav should be picked ahead of Ashwin on the England tour

Wicket-taking abilities

Ravichandran Ashwin might be a great bowler in sub-continent. But his overseas figures and nowhere near par. With only 31 wickets from 11 Tests at an exorbitantly high average of 50 in non-Asian countries (except the Caribbean), he has found it hard to trouble batsmen. Outside Asia, Ashwin is nothing more than a defensive bowler who can be banked on only to keep the runs down and not pick up as many wickets as he does in the sub-continent.

Kuldeep, on the other hand, has always looked like picking loads of wickets whenever he has played for India, irrespective of the conditions. If given a chance, Kuldeep could surprise us like he did in the South Africa ODI series where no one expected him to be so good. It is certainly worth giving him a chance, at least to fail!