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Former India player Ajay Jadeja has opined that Kuldeep Yadav should have played the Brisbane Test against Australia ahead of either Washington Sundar or T Natarajan because of his superior experience and pedigree in the format.
Kuldeep Yadav is the third spinner along with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in India's original Test squad for ongoing Test series.
However, with Ashwin and Jadeja getting sidelined for the Brisbane Test because of injuries, the Indian team opted to play Washington Sundar ahead of the left-arm wrist-spinner. The lanky Tamil Nadu off-spinner had stayed back in Australia as a net bowler after the conclusion of the limited-overs leg of the tour that preceded the Test series.
During a discussion on the Sony Sports network, Ajay Jadeja and Zaheer Khan shared their views about Kuldeep Yadav being overlooked for the fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Ajay Jadeja observed that Kuldeep Yadav lost his place in the ODI team after the 2019 World Cup, saying in this regard:
"India have stopped playing him in T20s as well. He was there for two years in the ODI team, and you lost one match in the World Cup, and you have left him out."
The former India player added that Kuldeep Yadav should have certainly been the preferred option for the Brisbane Test ahead of Washington Sundar and T Natarajan. He reasoned that the wrist-spinner was a part of India's original Test squad for the Australian tour while the other two only came in as replacements.
"And when India had gone for the tour, Washington Sundar and Natarajan were not in the team. So, he will definitely be sad. According to me, it is a no-brainer that Kuldeep Yadav should have played before Natarajan and Sundar because they were not even in the squad."
"Kuldeep Yadav's confidence would have certainly gone down" - Zaheer Khan
Zaheer Khan highlighted that Kuldeep Yadav has an excellent overall record in Test cricket. However, he observed that Washington Sundar might have been preferred over Kuldeep Yadav to add some depth to the batting, as India went into the Test with five bowlers.
"Kuldeep Yadav would have been definitely looking forward to play matches. He has done well as a spin bowler. If you see his numbers, they are very good. It is possible because of the pitch, the team management might have decided to give more importance to batting."
The former Indian pacer pointed out that Kuldeep Yadav's confidence would have taken a beating after being overlooked for the Brisbane Test. Zaheer Khan hopes that the Uttar Pradesh wrist-spinner does not lose his spot in the Indian Test team altogether.
"But whatever be the reason, the preparation he would have done for the tour as an individual player and the way he was thinking, his confidence would have certainly gone down because of this decision. We hope he is not totally left out. We have seen at times that you are not given a chance to play and someone comes and plays ahead of you, he does well and without any fault of yours, you are totally left out."
Kuldeep Yadav's fortunes have taken a nosedive since his excellent spell in Sydney during India's last tour of Australia. The Indian coach Ravi Shastri even proclaimed at the time that the wrist-spinner would be the team's first-choice spinner in overseas trips going forward.
However, the 26-year old's indifferent returns in limited-overs cricket and the IPL since then saw him fall down the pecking order even in the longest format of the game.
Sundar's selection ahead of Kuldeep Yadav as the sole spinner for the Brisbane Test is probably because of the former's superior batting prowess, but it has certainly come as a surprise to many experts, fans and former players alike.
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