"No one is talking about him" - Aakash Chopra on Kuldeep Yadav's exclusion from India's XI

Aakash Chopra feels Kuldeep Yadav's exclusion from India's playing XI for the first ODI against Sri Lanka was slightly questionable.

The Men in Blue opted to play Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal as their two spinners ahead of Washington Sundar and Kuldeep in the first game of the three-match series in Guwahati on Tuesday, January 10. The two spinners picked up a solitary wicket between them in the hosts' comprehensive 67-run win.

While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that Kuldeep has enjoyed almost similar success as Jasprit Bumrah in ODI cricket, observing:

"There was no place for Kuldeep Yadav. No one is talking about him, everyone is saying that Bumrah is not there. But if you see Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav's stats, there was a tweet from Dillip Mohanty, they are almost equal in everything - wickets or Man of the Match performances."

The former Indian batter was slightly surprised that the Uttar Pradesh spinner's exclusion from the playing XI wasn't debated much, explaining:

"Kuldeep Yadav has been almost at par with Bumrah in everything, almost neck to neck. Then why don't we talk about him, that you should play Kuldeep Yadav. India didn't play him, that's a separate issue."

Kuldeep has picked up 119 wickets at a decent economy rate of 5.20 in 73 ODIs. However, he has not been as potent in the last three years, having accounted for 20 dismissals in 17 games.

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"It's a line in the sand" - Aakash Chopra on India playing Shubman Gill ahead of Ishan Kishan

Shubman Gill scored a half-century in the first ODI against Sri Lanka. [P/C: BCCI]

As for Shubman Gill playing ahead of Ishan Kishan, Chopra said:

"India did not play Ishan Kishan. It's a line in the sand, that they will follow the process. Their process is that whoever has been with them for the long term, they will stay with him and will not play someone even if he comes and scores a double century in between. It's fine."

Chopra concurred with the team management's decision to play KL Rahul ahead of Suryakumar Yadav, reasoning:

"If Ishan was not playing, KL Rahul had to play, there was no doubt about that. If you see KL Rahul's ODI runs for the last one year, you will say how can you even talk, you should play him. He is a damn good player, so he was playing, which is absolutely right, which means there was no place for Suryakumar Yadav."

Both Gill and Rahul proved the decision to play them right. While the former scored a fluent 60-ball 70, the latter made an enterprising 39 off 29 deliveries.