A heartbroken Ravichandran Ashwin has backed Mohammad Kaif in asking Kuldeep Yadav to ‘pack his bags and come home’ after the spinner’s snub in the third ODI against England at Lord’s. He said that the team
management ignoring Kuldeep despite having Washington Sundar and Jasprit Bumrah out with injuries showed him that they had ‘zero’ trust in his abilities.
Kuldeep didn’t play the first two ODIs against England. The unsaid argument was that Gautam Gambhir prefers batting depth in every format, and Kuldeep, who is a specialist bowler, can’t be accommodated without a genuine pacer all-rounder like Hardik Pandya or Nitish Reddy (both are injured). The third ODI was the first time in a while that India compromised on batting depth, but went with four pacers.
The seam attack proved ineffective, especially in the middle-overs, and India lost the match by 27 runs after conceding 388.
“Kuldeep should not be playing at all,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. “There’s no need at all. This is a batsman’s world, which can never understand a bowler’s confidence and rhythm. I am a big Indian cricket nuffy—I always think about Indian cricket. Even when the IPL is going on, I keep thinking, ‘What can it do for Indian cricket?’ Kuldeep is at a stage, [he’ll play until] 35 or 36 years of age. He has a good contract; he recently went in the IPL trade — he should have packed his bags and come. Like Mohammad Kaif said, What is the point?”
Ashwin said that for him, Kuldeep was the best wrist-spinner in the world and didn’t deserve this.
“Before yesterday, I used to say—Kuldeep should stay there, with the kit-bag and try to improve his batting. But after yesterday, a lot of things changed… In this team where you don’t need batting at number 8 — you went with bowling strength — and even then, after Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, you’re still not taking Kuldeep Yadav. It means the management’s confidence in Kuldeep Yadav is absolutely zero. The team management has no confidence in Kuldeep Yadav at all,” he said
Shubman Gill was asked about this after the series ended 2-1, and he said the team felt the pitch wouldn’t offer any help for spinners. In contrast, both Adil Rashid and part-time spinner Jacob Bethell took a wicket each for England at Lord’s.
‘Where is his chance?’
Ashwin further recalled how in his last few years of Test cricket, Kuldeep was the best spinner in the format, but now, suddenly, he’s not getting chances in any format.
“After we left, where is his chance? He has to be the number one now. But the confidence being shown in him—there’s none. What is the point of Kuldeep continuing? What is the direction forward for him?” Ashwin asked.
Ashwin suggested that even if the team management doesn’t prefer Kuldeep’s skills, his non-selection at Lord’s was ‘very bizarre.’
“Honestly, I know everybody has favorites. I understand. Everybody will have their favorites. Someone can’t come and say, ‘I will treat everyone equally.’ Without your own knowledge, some will be your favorites, some a little less. That’s how it is. But this is a case that’s very bizarre. I’m not saying that if we had played Kuldeep yesterday, he would have guaranteed a win. That’s not what I’m saying. But yesterday was a very big shock for Kuldeep—a very big shock.”
