Farokh Engineer, the Indian wicketkeeping legend who has been a resident of England for more than five decades, feels the team management should think out of the box and keep Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI in the upcoming Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy. there as the first of the five-Test series gets under way at Leeds in Headingley from 20 June.

‘’I think they should make room for Kuldeep in the playing XI instead of worrying too much about the conditions. He is a very intelligent bowler and the English batters will find him difficult to pick. (Ravindra) Jadeja may be their first pick as the spinner but he is not a quintessential wicket taker – he is more of a defensive bowler,’’ remarked the feisty 87-year-old, who kept vigil behind the stumps from early 60s till 1975.

Hailed as the poster boy of Indian cricket in the early ‘70s Engineer, who had a major heart surgery less than two weeks back, sounded upbeat about the new-look Indian team’s chances in the upcoming series. Speaking to National Herald over phone, he said he was ready to put his money on India: ‘’I feel India will win the series though I don’t want to predict a scoreline. Yes, it’s a new look team with no Virat Kohli and no Rohit Sharma – who have been great servants of Indian cricket - but we have enough talent to field two teams at any format.

 ‘’There is no reason to be in awe of this England team. This time, the forecast is that of a bright summer and India should make the most of it,’’ he said.

 A legend of Lancashire who has a stand named after him at the Old Trafford, venue of the fourth Test, Engineer holds new captain Shubman Gill in high esteem but has a word of advice for him. ‘’Gill is a classy batter and has a calm head on his shoulders. However, he is yet to prove himself on English soil and all I can advise him is to guard against playing on the rise to avoid the nicks behind the wicket. He should try to play as close to the body as possible,’’ remarked Engineer, a key member of Ajit Wadekar’s team which pulled off historic Test series triumphs in England and the West Indies in 1971.

How does he assess the Indian batting line-up in the absence of the Big Two? Like many, Engineer has a gripe that Shreyas Iyer has missed out despite being in raging form while he has a radical view about Suryakumar Yadav being never seriously considered for the Test set-up.

‘’I wanted to see Shreyas in the Test side and have always failed to understand why Surya had been branded only as a white ball player. It’s true that Surya has a penchant for playing fancy shots but his biggest asset is he can pick up the length of deliveries very quickly to play his shots. To me, anyone good in white ball cricket is as good in the red ball variety,’’ said Engineer, whose gung ho style of batting was ahead of it’s time with a strike rate of 137.

 Moving on to the topic of Indian attack in England, Engineer felt that India could be missing Ravichandran Ashwin as there are a number of left handers in the England line-up. ‘’Washington Sundar, who has come as his replacement, is a good cricketer and can stay at the wicket. I hope to be present for the last three Tests and want to see an Indian summer here,’’ signed off Engineer.