Jasprit Bumrah kicked aside as Matthew Hayden names India's "key 20-wicket bowler" for England Tests

Legendary Australia National Cricket Team batsman Matthew Hayden has named a "key 20-wicket bowler" for the India National Cricket Team on the England tour.

Surprisingly, Matthew Hayden didn't name Jasprit Bumrah, who is regarded as the best bowler in the world and is currently in the form of his life.

Also Read: UPCA, ACA approve Saurabh Kumar’s colossal team switch; BCCI approval awaited

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Kuldeep Yadav could be a key 20-wicket bowler for them - Matthew Hayden

The Aussie great Matthew Hayden said that the left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav will be pivotal for India's success in the five-match Test series against England.

He added that Kuldeep Yadav could emerge as one of the top performers for India on the tour and could end up picking 20 wickets for the team.

"Looking ahead, I’m really curious about what India brings to England. Five Tests — that’s a tough, character-testing series. We discussed it earlier — someone like Kuldeep Yadav could be a key 20-wicket bowler for them," Hayden said on the sidelines of the Australian Summer of Cricket 2025/26 launch as quoted by News18.

“We’ve had the advantage of Lyon’s consistency, and his absence in the last Ashes showed the impact of losing a reliable spinner. The best teams, through every era, have always had one thing in common — stability," Hayden added.

Kuldeep Yadav has limited experience in England

Kuldeep has played just 13 Test matches for India and has picked up 56 wickets at an average of 22.16, an economy of 3.55, and a strike rate of 37.3 with the best bowling figures in a match of 8/113.

He has played most of his Tests - six - against the England National Cricket Team and has gotten 21 wickets, but in England itself, he has played just one match where he went wicketless after bowling 9 overs.

In the white-ball format also, Kuldeep Yadav doesn't have a lot of experience playing in England, as he played just 10 ODIs and two T20Is in the country, picking up 15 and five wickets, respectively.

Australia has been a very dominant team - Matthew Hayden

Matthew Hayden also shared his views on Team Australia ahead of the ICC World Test Championship Final. He said that Pat Cummins & Co. have been very dominant in the 2023-25 cycle of the World Test Championship, which is mainly because of the world-class bowling attack they have got.

“We’ve still got a core group on the side, but it’s starting to shift in some ways. How long is Steve Smith going to play or Usman Khawaja going to continue? These are the characters sitting in that space — one that Stephen (Steve Waugh) and I have been in, and Virat’s been in as well. We’ve all faced that challenge where you realise maybe it’s time to move on," he said.

“But for this cycle, Australia has been a very dominant team. I base that largely on the fact that you need to take 20 wickets to win a Test — and this team has a world-class pace trio, much like in Stephen’s (Steve Waugh’s) era. They also have a world-class spinner, and I’m sure we all appreciate the skill of Nathan Lyon. That’s been such a key part of how Australian teams are built," he concluded.