Deep Dasgupta perplexed about Kuldeep Yadav's exclusion in the first Test
Deep Dasgupta believes Team India should provide some clarity regarding Kuldeep Yadav's situation. The 26-year-old's exclusion from the first Test against England once again raised eyebrows despite the hosts going in with three spinners.
Kuldeep Yadav sat out all four Tests against Australia even though injuries plagued the Indian side. Even in the first Test against England, he could have played. But an injury to Axar Patel meant that Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Nadeem and Ravichandran Ashwin where played as the three spinners.
Former India international Deep Dasgupta believes Kuldeep Yadav deserves an answer on where he stands in the pecking order.
“In Australia, there was an opportunity (for Kuldeep to get selected), but he did not. Here (at the Chepauk), there was a great opportunity again, so where does he stand now? I think that’s an important question. Someone like him needs to get an answer for. I mean what does he have to do; where is he in the pecking order," wondered Dasgupta on Sports Today.
The former wicketkeeper termed the left-arm wrist bowler a match-winner, saying in this regard:
“Maybe some clarity is required because he is young; he’s got a lot of cricket left. Maybe he needs to be given some direction in terms of what is expected of him when he needs to improve, how he wants to go about it. I think he’s got a lot of cricket left in him; he’s a really good bowler. He’s a match-winner."
Kuldeep Yadav's last played a Test in the 2018-19 Border Gavaskar Trophy series, where India became the first Asian team to win a Test series on Australia soil.
The left-arm wrist-spinner picked a five-for in that Test but hasn't played a Test since then.
Kuldeep Yadav is in the scheme of things: Virat Kohli
Before the start of the first Test against England, Indian captain Virat Kohli said that Kuldeep Yadav would be in the scheme of things, especially in home conditions.
"Someone like Kuldeep hasn't had a lot of game-time, but now that the home season starts, he will in the scheme of things; he will be in the team plans. Kuldeep is someone who has got a lot of skill. He understands there were areas in his game that he had to work on, which he has worked in beautifully in Australia." said Kohli.
When Kuldeep Yadav first burst onto the scene, he was seen as a huge prospect and became a regular for India in the white-ball formats. However, in recent times, Yadav has found it difficult to feature regularly even for his IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders.
Kuldeep Yadav was rather unfortunate to miss out in Chennai. He could have played as the third spinner alongside Ashwin and Patel. But an injury to the latter meant that India opted for a like-for-like replacement in Nadeem.
However, that weakened the lower-order batting. To address the same, Washington Sundar, the better batter, received the nod ahead of Kuldeep Yadav.