England's unorthodox plan to combat Kuldeep

England have drafted in a club cricketer from Essex and a 17-year-old from Yorkshire in their latest attempt to counter mystery spinner Kuldeep Yadav in their upcoming Tests against India.

Kuldeep is no certainty to play the first Test at Edgbaston, starting on Wednesday (8pm AEDT, Fox Sports More), but England aren't taking any chances after the 23-year-old bamboozled some of their best batsmen during the recent ODI and T20 series.

Kuldeep's style of bowling, left-arm wrist spin, is so rare that England have been forced to look well beyond the ranks of their first-class system to find bowlers who can replicate Kuldeep's line of attack.

So much so that three highly unfamiliar faces – identified by ESPN as former Derbyshire second XI player Akhil Patel, Essex club cricketer William Blackwell and Yorkshire teenager Sam Wisniewski – turned up to England training in Birmingham on Monday to bowl left-arm wrist spin to some of the best batsmen in the world.

While unusual, such a move is far from unprecedented; leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed was pulled out of the Melbourne club ranks and called into the Australian camp ahead of their 2012 Tests against South Africa as part of their preparation to face Proteas leg-spinner Imran Tahir.

And the Aussies went down a similar path last year in their efforts to combat Kuldeep, drafting in unknown left-armer KK Jiyas to bowl to them at training ahead of their ODI series opener in Chennai.

England have already turned to their state-of-the-art spin-bowling machine, nicknamed Merlyn, in recent weeks as they attempt to unlock the secrets of Kuldeep, who had mixed fortunes in the limited-overs matches at the start of the tour.

Having picked up 5-24 in the first T20 and 6-25 in the first ODI, baffling some of England's best batsmen with his potent googly, he conceded more than a run-a-ball in the final two ODIs as England's Test skipper Joe Root started to unravel the spinner's variations.

"One thing we can do is with Merlyn, to replicate the angle," England batsman Jos Buttler said during the T20 series of their bowling "wizard", which was first introduced ahead of the 2005 Ashes series to combat Australia's spin king Shane Warne.

"(The first T20) was the first time some guys have faced Kuldeep and it may take one or two games, plus video.

"You have to get used to the (bowling) action and once you have faced them a bit more it gets easier."

Whether or not England will be faced with Kuldeep at Edgbaston remains to be seen.

India's XI for the first Test is uncertain as they weigh up the structure of their bowling attack and whether to pick two spinners, Kuldeep and Ravichandran Ashwin, or just one slow bowler, likely to be Ashwin.

The late-summer start to the series and the fact Ashwin averages more than 30 with the bat in Tests has raised the prospect of both slow bowlers being picked alongside three quicks.

But former Australia batsman Mike Hussey said this week Ashwin should get the nod if conditions call for just one spinner.

"Kuldeep is a fantastic bowler and has done well (but) personally, I don't think Kuldeep should play at the expense of Ashwin," Hussey told Times of India.

"I think Ashwin deserves his place in the team as he has been a brilliant Test match bowler for a long period of time. He has over 300 Test wickets, plus England have many left-handers and Ashwin can play a big role.

"There is still plenty of time for Kuldeep as he's young. Let him keep learning along the way but if there is an injury or an opportunity, then I am sure he will do a good job for India."