In a surprise development, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to release 30-year-old Indian national cricket team left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav from the T20 squad.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) revealed through an official statement that the decision to release Kuldeep Yadav from the team was taken at the request of the Gautam Gambhir-led team management.
Kuldeep Yadav released from India’s T20 team amid Australia series
After dominating with the ball in the Asia Cup 2025 and the home Test series against West Indies, Kuldeep Yadav traveled to Australia for an 8-match white-ball series against the Mitchell Marsh-led side.
However, he did not get a chance to play many matches. The left-arm wrist spinner was kept on the bench in the first two ODIs, but finally got his chance in the last game of the dead-rubber, where he recorded figures of 1/50.
Then, he was part of India’s playing eleven in the opening match of the T20 series in Canberra, but did not get a chance to bowl as the match was washed out due to rain in the city. However, in the second game of the five-match series, he recorded figures of 2/45.
Then, he was dropped from the playing eleven for the third match in Hobart and was replaced by Washington Sundar. And now after the match is over, he has been sent back home.
The decision has been taken by the Gautam Gambhir-led team management to provide some red-ball game time to Kuldeep Yadav, as he will be playing for India A against South Africa A before the start of the main series.
“The Indian team management has requested the release of Kuldeep Yadav from the ongoing T20 series in Australia to allow him to participate in the India A series against South Africa A at the BCCI Center of Excellence in Bengaluru. The second four-day match will begin on November 6.
“It has been decided to provide Kuldeep with red-ball game time in preparation for the upcoming IDFC First Bank two-match Test series against South Africa,” the BCCI said.
India’s updated squad for the fourth and fifth T20Is:
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dubey, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakraborty, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.
Updated India A squad for the second four-day match:
Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Sai Sudarshan (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Khalil Ahmed, Gurnoor Brar, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav.
Credit to India – they bowled really well – Mitchell Marsh
India won the third T20 match by five wickets and leveled the series 1-1. Speaking after the defeat, Mitchell Marsh said that Australia was 20 runs behind in the match. He said:
“Yes, we probably fell behind by 20 runs. Credit to India – they bowled really well. We gave our best in the field, but they deserved to win. (Learning from batting first) We just needed those extra 20 runs. I liked the intent of our batsmen, especially Tim David, who came in after the early wickets fell and played brilliantly.”
Also read: “Felt the right combination”: Suryakumar Yadav sends strong message to Gautam Gambhir in place of Arshdeep Singh
