"Hard done once again" - Fans react as India bench Kuldeep Yadav for ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav's name didn't feature in India's playing XI for the second Test of the ongoing five-match away series against England. The game commenced on Wednesday, July 2, at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Kuldeep was not part of the playing XI for the Test series opener at Headingley, Leeds, as well. The visitors suffered a five-wicket defeat in the clash. England overhauled India's 371-run target in the fourth innings, recording the tenth-highest run chase in Test cricket history.

Following the unfavorable result, several experts urged the Indian think tank to consider Kuldeep for the second fixture. While Shubman Gill and Co. added an extra spinner, it was all-rounder Washington Sundar who got the nod.

Speaking at the toss, India captain Shubman Gill stated that they were tempted to bring Kuldeep in, but eventually decided on adding more depth to their batting department.

However, the Indian team management was slammed by fans on social media for the decision to bench Kuldeep. Here are some of the top reactions:

"So frustrated by Indian team selection, playing Jadeja and Sundar when neither will take wickets outside india ahead of Kuldeep Yadav is like accepting that we have no plans or desire to take 20 wickets, might as well play 11 specialist batsman if you are so scared," wrote a fan.

"Unreal mistrust on Kuldeep Yadav. Hard done once again," remarked a fan.

"Why have we included Kuldeep and Arshdeep in the squad if all that we want is depth in batting?? I mean seriously bro washi over kuldeep just because our tail didn't perform in the match where we had a target of 371 to defend," chimed in yet another.

Meanwhile, England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to field first. Here are the two playing XIs:

IND: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

ENG: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir

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"How do you justify his exclusion" - Mohammad Kaif on Kuldeep Yadav ahead of ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif believes Kuldeep Yadav deserved to be in the playing XI at Edgbaston. He pointed out that the 30-year-old has played only a handful of Tests in his eight-year career.

He opined that Kuldeep was earlier left out of the side due to the presence of ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Suggesting that getting benched consistently was unfair to Kuldeep, Kaif wrote on X:

"It will be unfair if Kuldeep Yadav doesn't get into the playing XI for second Test. He has just played 13 Tests in 8 years. Earlier he was kept out because of Ashwin now how do you justify his exclusion."

Kuldeep has played just one Test on English soil. Playing at Lord's, London, in 2018, the talented spinner remained wicketless in England's only innings.