Former batter Robin Uthappa weighed in on wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav‘s exclusion from India’s playing XI during the Test series against England. The visitors levelled the 5-match series 2-2.
Kuldeep Yadav warmed the bench throughout the series. Several former cricketers and experts had slammed India for not playing Kuldeep. However, Uthappa reckoned that fans would have then blasted the captain and management for playing a specialist spinner had batting depth caused issues.
Robin Uthappa Opines on Kuldeep Yadav’s exclusion from the side
Speaking on his You Tube channel Uthappa said, ” Put Kuldeep in the 11 and make sure you’re batting is still in a state where none of the fans will go after the team management or the captain. With all due respect to Kuldeep’s prowess with the ball, he’s got limitations to his batting. That’s going to take a lot of effort from his side.”
Robin Uthappa compares Kuldeep Yadav to Ravichandran Ashwin
Robin Uthappa compared Kuldeep Yadav to Ravichandran Ashwin. Uthappa reflected that Ashwin had five to six Test hundreds. He reckoned Kuldeep would have to work on his batting and become like Ashwin in the lower order to fit into the side.
Speaking on the same You Tube channel, he said: “Ashwin has got 5-6 Test hundreds. If he can do that at the lower middle batting order, say at number eight or nine, then he will certainly play more Tests.”
Ashwin scored 3503 runs with six hundreds and 14 fifties in the format and was a legend of the game.
Kuldeep Yadav: A Case of Unfortunate Stories
If there is an unlucky player in World Cricket, it is Kuldeep Yadav. If he was playing in any other country, he would have surely being a part of XI more often than not. He has played 13 Test matches in 7 years and his record is great. But because he does not have the batting capabilities, he gets dropped more often than not. Earlier it was due to Ashwin and Jadeja and now Sundar and Axar are also in reckoning.
As things stand and looking at the team management, it is true that Kuldeep might well have to work on batting to get on the side. This team management is hell bent on batting depth and so Kuldeep whose main skill is bowling and he is great at that continues to miss out. The young man now has to hone his batting skills as suggested by Robin Uthappa as well.
One hopes he gets a chance to play the home season against West Indies. Even on spinning tracks for all we know, India might go with Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel and then that will mean Kuldeep misses out again as the aforementioned players bat better than Kuldeep Yadav. One hopes he gets a chance to finally showcase his skills on the world stage.
Many opposition players fear playing Kuldeep and are happy when he is not playing. But India and their management fails to realise it and continues to play other bowlers because of batting depth. Robin Uthappa’s words might sound bitter to some, but it true with this team management as they haven’t got the balance right with lack of fast bowling all-rounder. Next time when Kuldeep comes out to play one hopes he improves his batting and shows his prowess.
India will have white ball games in September and it remains to be seen whether Kuldeep gets a chance in those games because he is a quality white ball player as well and he showed that in Champions Trophy 2025. Otherwise, India’s next assignment is against the West Indies and Kuldeep will look to bounce back given the chance and shine in the Tests against West Indies. The two Test matches will be in Ahmedabad and New Delhi.
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