The Indian national cricket team has completely ignored Kuldeep Yadav on the recent UK tour. The left-arm wrist spinner did not get a single chance in Ireland or England, leaving many former cricketers including Ravichandran Ashwin surprised and disappointed.
The former Indian spinner believes that repeatedly keeping a quality spinner like Kuldeep out of the team can hurt his confidence and he will feel that the team management no longer has faith in him. He believes that this behavior may have forced Kuldeep to think about his future in India. Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin explains what makes Rahul Dravid special as Gautam remains under severe pressure.
Ravichandran Ashwin surprised that India have completely ignored Kuldeep Yadav on UK tour
Kuldeep was once again left out of the playing eleven for the third and final ODI at Lord’s on 19 July. His exclusion raised even more questions as India were already without two important bowlers. Jasprit Bumrah missed the match due to a knee injury, while Washington Sundar was ruled out of the match due to a hamstring injury.
Nevertheless, the Indian team management decided to go with four fast bowlers and only one specialist spinner, Axar Patel. Kuldeep remained sitting on the bench during the entire UK tour. Reacting to this move, Ashwin said that it is becoming very difficult to understand the thinking behind Kuldeep’s repeated neglect.
He said that the left-arm spinner has proved himself by taking 194 wickets in 121 T20Is and 95 wickets in 54 ODIs. The former Indian off-spinner said Kuldeep is even better than Australia’s star wrist spinner Adam Zampa and deserves more respect and regular chances.
Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube channel, “Kuldeep Yadav is better than Adam Zampa. We consider Adam Zampa as one of the best wrist spinners. But I think Kuldeep Yadav is better than Adam Zampa. He should have played in England.”
Ravichandran Ashwin criticized Kuldeep Yadav, questioned Team India’s trust on the spinner.
Ashwin also said that Kuldeep missed out because he is not a strong batsman. He agreed that the team management wanted batting depth and often preferred an all-rounder at number eight, but felt that this reason made no sense in the Lord’s ODI.
Pointing out that India had not gone with an extra batsman, and with Sundar and Bumrah already unavailable, Ashwin felt that Kuldeep should have been included to strengthen the bowling attack rather than adding another pace option for the series decider against England. Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah’s comeback date: When will the Indian fast bowler return after knee injury?
Ashwin warned that such repeated insults could seriously impact the spinner’s confidence. The cricket pundit said, “This is a blow to Kuldeep Yadav’s confidence. It shows that the Indian team management has no faith in him. Then what is happening? When will we get a chance? Will he come back to the T20 set-up? He was not in the previous team.”
Before the Sri Lanka Test, Ravichandran Ashwin raised a big question on the future of Kuldeep Yadav!
The former Indian all-rounder also questioned Kuldeep’s future across all formats. He told that Kuldeep keeps moving in and out of the playing eleven without any fixed role. With India set to tour Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series, Ashwin wondered whether the selectors would again choose a finger spinner over Kuldeep.
Ashwin reminded everyone that even when he and Ravindra Jadeja were struggling, Kuldeep performed brilliantly. Now he believes that instead of sitting out of the playing eleven, Kuldeep should lead the spin attack.
He said, “In Sri Lanka, will they prefer a finger spinner? Or will they go with Kuldeep Yadav? If they are not convinced, what is the point of Kuldeep continuing? What is the direction ahead for Kuldeep Yadav? It is a very strange case. I am not saying that Kuldeep Yadav will win. But yesterday, it was a big blow for Kuldeep Yadav.”
