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Kuldeep Yadav’s omission from the third and final ODI match was shocking for every former cricketer after Washington Sundar was ruled out ahead of the third match. Now former England all-rounder Moeen Ali has questioned the omission of Kuldeep Yadav from the playing XI throughout the three matches.
India played the combination of four pacers in the form of Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar and Prasidh Krishna in the final ODI match at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, with Axar Patel as their only spin option in the team. All the bowlers went for runs all over the park as England posted 387 runs in their 50-overs.
Moeen Ali questions Kuldeep Yadav's omission from playing XI
Moeen Ali, while speaking on the Beard Before Wicket YouTube channel, stated that he does not know the reason for not playing Kuldeep Yadav. Ali compared Kuldeep with Adil Rashid and called him a wicket-taker.
"I don't know why Kuldeep Yadav is not playing. He's one of the best spinners in the world. For them, he's like their Adil Rashid. He's that wicket-taker that breaks partnerships and is hard to pick. He needs to play, but the problem is India wants to have a longer batting lineup. A lot of their bowlers can't really bat. That's the issue for them."
Kuldeep Yadav has played 121 One Day Internationals for India, taking 194 wickets at a bowling average of 27.05 and an economy rate of 5.07. Though he has been struggling in recent times, he has always been a match-winner for India across formats.
"The bowling looks very average"- Moeen Ali questions India's bowling attack
Moeen Ali also pointed out that the India National Cricket Team bowling attack is average without Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah missed out on the third match due to a knee injury he had while fielding in the 2nd ODI match at Cardiff, and thus the Indian bowling attack, especially the pacers, picked three wickets combined.
"Without Bumrah, the bowling looks very average. They are an average bowling attack. They are still good if the conditions suit them. But if the wickets are flat, India are going to struggle with the ball big time."
Moeen Ali sheds light on Jasprit Bumrah's importance
He was excellent in the first two ODIs; despite picking two wickets, he created pressure with his bowling and did not leak runs easily, as he had an incredible economy of four runs in both the ODIs.
"Bumrah was a huge miss in the last game. He picks up those early wickets and isn't easy to score against either. He actually helps the other bowlers also. Him not being there is like taking Adil Rashid and Jofra Archer away from the England side," said Moeen.
Coming to the match, England batted first and posted a target of 388 runs, Ben Duckett scoring 141 runs, Jacob Bethell 91 runs, and Joe Root scoring 74 runs. For the Men in Blue side, Rohit Sharma scored 138 runs, and Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill scored 74 and 77 each as India lost the match by 27 runs.
