Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], July 31 : Former India captain Sourav Ganguly believes judging Anshul Kamboj with his first Test being the parameter won't be ideal. He admitted that Mukesh Kumar's omission from India's tour of England left him "surprised" and hopes an opportunity will knock on his door in future.
Before the commencement of the fourth Test in Manchester, Kamboj was flown to Manchester after an injury crisis marred the Indian camp. Akash Deep nursed a groin niggle, Arshdeep Singh sustained a blow on his hand, while Nitish Kumar Reddy was ruled out of the entire series.
A couple of days after his arrival, the 24-year-old was straightaway thrown into the final XI and handed the burden of bearing the responsibility with the new ball. In his Test debut, he bowled with the new ball ahead of mainstay Mohammed Siraj but failed to cast magic with it.
He consistently strayed off his line, leaked runs in abundance and failed to ask the necessary question from English openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett. After a relentless battering, he found some respite after scything his maiden scalp by robbing Ducket of a century and returned with figures of 1/89.
"Don't judge Anshul on one Test. He is a young kid, and he has picked wickets in domestic cricket. Give him five to eight Tests before passing a judgment on him on how good he is," Ganguly said in a press conference on Thursday.
Before the commencement of the series, there were plenty of pacers who were tried and tested during the two unofficial Tests between India A and England Lions. Mukhesh was a name in that pool and scalped a three-wicket haul in 25 overs at 30.66 in his sole appearance.
Even in first-class cricket, Mukesh boasts 252 wickets in 52 appearances at 21.55 average for Bengal. While assessing India's pace attack, the former BCCI president felt the English conditions were ideal for Mukesh to bask in success with his skillset.
"I was surprised not to see Mukesh Kumar in the squad. His red-ball numbers in domestic cricket are phenomenal. These conditions would have been suitable for him. Hopefully, in future, he will get his chance," he added.