"Complete match winner with the ball" - Fans react as India include Kuldeep Yadav in 1st T20I vs NZ

Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav returned to T20I side after five months.

Team India have picked Kuldeep Yadav ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal for the first T20I against New Zealand at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi on Friday, January 27.

Kuldeep, who recently made a superb comeback in the ODIs against New Zealand, was preferred by skipper Hardik Pandya ahead of leg-spinner Chahal. He last played a T20I game in August last year against the West Indies in Lauderhill. The Uttar Pradesh-born cricketer had a stellar performance, returning with 3/14 in his four overs.

However, Kuldeep was not picked for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. With that, he went down in the pecking order, but his stellar performances in the 50-over format compelled the selectors to consider him for the T20Is.

Fans were very excited to see Kuldeep in the T20I side after five months. Many urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to give him a consistent run to yield the maximum benefit from him.

Here are some of the reactions:

Kuldeep Yadav boasts a stellar T20I record, having had 44 scalps in 25 games at an average of 14.02.

Former cricketer Wasim Jaffer recently lavished praise on the wrist-spinner, saying that the Delhi Capitals (DC) ace could be a match-winner for Team India.

"It happens with wrist spinners," Jaffer said on ESPNCricinfo. "When their form is good, when the ball comes out of their hands well, they take wickets. He has proved in the last two series by taking big wickets and giving breakthroughs at critical stages. So, he has that potential.”

Kuldeep Yadav will hope to continue his form and cement his place in the T20 side ahead of the next T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA.


India and New Zealand Playing XIs

India: Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, and Arshdeep Singh.

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Jacob Duffy, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, and Blair Tickner.

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