India played three fast bowlers – Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh; two spin-bowling all-rounders – Axar Patel and Washington Sundar; and one medium-pace bowling all-rounder – Nitish Kumar Reddy – in the first ODI against Australia on Sunday (October 19) in Perth. But the six bowlers could only manage to take three wickets, and India failed to defend the DLS-revised target of 131 runs to go down by 7 wickets at Optus Stadium in Perth.
The flop show by Indian bowlers invited sharp criticism from former India middle-order batter Mohammad Kaif, who also criticised captain Shubman Gill for compromising with quality over quantity.
Kaif, who led India to the U-19 World Cup title win in 2000 and then played in the 2003 ODI World Cup as
well, failed to understand the reason behind leaving Kuldeep Yadav out of the playing XI.
Kuldeep has been in red-hot form these days. He finished as the highest wicket-taker in the Asia Cup 2025 and also topped the highest wicket-takers list in the recently concluded India-West Indies Test series.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel after India suffered a humiliating defeat in the first ODI of the ongoing three-match series in Australia, Kaif said, “In this team there were many part-time bowlers. Nitish Reddy is not a complete bowler. On such a pitch even (Washington) Sundar is not a complete bowler. Harshit Rana would be disappointed with his bowling. It was the bowlers’ responsibility to win this game. I know it was a low score. But when will you win games as bowlers then? Will you win only with (Jasprit) Bumrah and (Mohammed) Shami?”
“It was a test of all the bowlers and Gill as well. He did not play Kuldeep in the XI. You covered everything but did not play a wicket-taking bowler. Shane Warne was successful in all formats in Australia. I was disappointed that Kuldeep did not play. Kuhnamann bagged two wickets. You have compromised with quality for quantity,” he added.
After Indian bowlers disappoint in the first ODI, Kuldeep is expected to get a chance to play in the second ODI at Adelaide Oval on October 23. But it will be interesting to see who makes way for him.
