Former Team India cricketer Mohammad Kaif suggested that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should ask the team management why Kuldeep Yadav was kept on the bench during the ODI series against England when some of their top talents were out of the team due to injury.
The BCCI is set to hold a review meeting after India’s poor performance in Ireland and England, where they lost a couple of T20 series and then an ODI series, after which they will head to Zimbabwe for another T20 series. India suffered three consecutive series defeats in the white-ball format during their UK tour.
BCCI will hold a review meeting after again losing to Ireland and England.
As reported earlier, the board is all set to hold a review meeting with the team management ahead of the ODI World Cup to be held in South Africa next year. In preparation for the 2027 ODI World Cup, the 50-over series against England was crucial to the team’s preparations.
More than the batting for Mohammad Kaif, it was the team’s bowling combination that frustrated the Men in Blue against the Three Lions. Kuldeep Yadav was with the team but he did not get a single match to show his skills in foreign conditions.
Why did Kuldeep Yadav remain on the bench? Mohammad Kaif raised the question
Four key bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy and Washington Sundar were ruled out due to injuries; Still, there was no sign of Kuldeep in the playing eleven.
Kaif said on his YouTube channel, “In the review meeting that will be held, BCCI should raise questions and ask the reasons behind the selection of this playing eleven. They should ask why Kuldeep did not play when Bumrah, Sundar, Varun, all these people were not there.”
In the 3rd ODI, which was the 3-match series decider, India came close to chasing a mammoth target of 388, but missed it by only 27 runs. Kaif admitted that Jos Buttler’s explosive inning of 41 runs off 13 balls made the difference between the two teams in that match.
Mohammad Kaif points to Kuldeep Yadav’s success rate against Jos Buttler
The former cricketer pointed out that the scenario could have been different had Kuldeep Yadav been on the field, who had prior experience in England and a good record against Buttler.
According to the statistics, Jos Buttler has scored 87 runs against India’s spinners at a strike rate of 138.09 and an average of 29, and has lost wickets three times.
“In the end, England won because of Butler’s 40 runs and Kuldeep has performed better than them in the past as well. Kuldeep has bowled well in England too. They should ask the reason for this. You give the reason for the depth of the batting. Okay.”
Kaif further said in the YouTube video, “But in that game, your all-rounder at number eight got injured and was out. Yet, Kuldeep did not play. It was completely beyond my understanding.”