[Watch] Kuldeep Yadav visits Bageshwar Dham Sarkar ahead of IND vs SL ODI series
India cricketer Kuldeep Yadav visited Bageshwar Dham Sarkar on Sunday, July 21, to celebrate the Guru Purnima festival. The visit comes days before his Sri Lanka tour for three ODIs next month.
In a video doing the rounds on X, Kuldeep can be seen touching the feet of Bageshwar Dham Sarkar aka Dhirendra Krishna Shastri. The latter introduced him to his followers to welcome him at the sacred place.
Watch the video below:
Notably, Kuldeep is quite spiritual and often visits temples. The leg-spinner recently played a big role in helping India lift the 2024 T20 World Cup trophy. He picked up 10 wickets in six matches, including 3/19 and 2/24 against England and Australia in semifinal and Super-8 clashes, respectively. Kuldeep, however, was ignored for three T20Is in Sri Lanka. He retained his place in the ODI side.
Notably, the three ODIs between India and Sri Lanka will be played on August 2, 4 and 7 in Colombo.
“It's very surprising” – Aakash Chopra on omission of Kuldeep Yadav from India squad for Sri Lanka T20Is
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra posed question marks on Kuldeep Yadav’s absence from the India squad for the three T20Is in Sri Lanka. He recently said on his YouTube channel:
"Kuldeep Yadav's name is not there in T20 cricket. It's very surprising because the guy has come just now after winning the World Cup but his name is not there in T20 cricket. Has something happened that we don't know about? He is going with the ODI setup. I have got no idea why he isn't playing T20Is.”
Chopra also expressed his surprise as Yuzvedra Chahal was ignored for both T20Is and ODIs after the T20 World Cup. He said:
"Yuzi Chahal also comes to mind. You were just now part of the World Cup. After that, you are nowhere.”
Kuldeep has scalped 69 wickets in 40 T20Is at an economy rate of 6.77. In ODIs, the Uttar Pradesh-born spinner has bagged 168 wickets in 103 ODIs at an economy of 5.05. He picked up 15 wickets in 11 ODIs at the 2023 World Cup.