"Rohit Sharma has made Kuldeep Yadav an away puppet.."- Twitter reacts to Kuldeep Yadav's omission from Hyderabad Test

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been excluded from India’s playing XI for the first Test of the ongoing five-match series against England. Axar Patel has been preferred over Kuldeep Yadav as the third spinner in the bowling line-up for the series opener.

England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. England left out veteran pacer James Anderson from the line-up. They picked three spinners in the team, including debutant spinner Tom Hartley.

Virat Kohli withdrew from the initial two Tests for personal reasons. KS Bharat was chosen over Dhruv Jurel for the wicketkeeper position. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj will open the bowling, supported by Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel.

It Was A Tough One To Leave Out Kuldeep Yadav – Rohit Sharma

Speaking at the toss, Rohit Sharma acknowledged the difficulty in finalizing the team’s bowling combination. Sharma highlighted Axar Patel’s impressive batting in Indian conditions as the determining factor for his inclusion over Kuldeep Yadav.

“We’ve got three spinners and two seamers – Bumrah, Siraj, Axar, Ashwin and Jadeja. It was a tough one (to leave out Kuldeep Yadav), we thought a lot about it. Axar, whenever he had played, he has done well and bats really well in these conditions. He got some really good score the last time we played against Australia. Probably the reason we went with Axar,” Rohit said.

Axar Patel debuted in Test cricket during the 2021 home series against England. Patel replaced Kuldeep Yadav following India’s loss in the opening Test. The left-arm spinner claimed 27 wickets across six innings, significantly contributing to India’s 3-1 series victory.

Kuldeep has participated in only eight Tests for India since his debut in 2017. His last appearance was in the first Test of the 2022 Bangladesh series, where he secured eight wickets. Despite his notable performance, he was dropped from the playing XI for the next match.

Fans React As Kuldeep Yadav Dropped From India’s Playing XI In Hyderabad

Kuldeep Yadav 💔 #INDvsENG #CricketTwitter

— rᥲȷі𝗍🇮🇳 (@imrajitd) January 25, 2024

Kuldeep is so unlucky to be Indian 😭😭😭

— Odesh 🇱🇰 #TamilEelam (@daddydgea) January 25, 2024

People are debating over axar/kuldeep when he’s in our t3 batters 😭 and we already don’t have our best batter for these conditions in the team

— Devesh (@giveittoikwho) January 25, 2024

England opt to bat. Axar plays ahead of Kuldeep. KS Bharat playing as WK #INDvENG #CricketTwitter

— Vishesh Roy (@vroy38) January 25, 2024

Thats the best possible line up available, Axar. Ahead of Kuldeep adds to the batting depth

— Sumit Agarwal 🇮🇳 (@sumitagarwal_IN) January 25, 2024

Why Axar Patel over Kuldeep Yadav? #IndvsEng

— അർജ്ജുനൻ നമ്പൂതിരി (@arjunpn) January 25, 2024

Also read: “Kuldeep Yadav is a tempting option, Axar Patel gives batting depth..”- Rohit Sharma’s bombshell on India’s 3rd spinner for Hyderabad Test