Kuldeep Yadav sent home on Gautam Gambhir’s orders amid Australia T20I series

In a surprising development, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to release the 30-year-old India National Cricket Team left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav from the T20I squad.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), through an official statement, revealed that the decision was made to release Kuldeep Yadav from the squad at the request of Gautam Gambhir-led team management.

Kuldeep Yadav released from India’s T20I squad amid Australia series

After dominating with the ball in the Asia Cup 2025 and home Test series against West Indies, Kuldeep Yadav traveled to Australia for the 8-match white-ball series against the Mitchell Marsh-led side.

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However, he didn't get the opportunity to play a lot of matches. The left-arm wrist-spinner was benched in the first two ODI matches before finally getting the opportunity in the dead-rubber last game, where he registered figures of 1/50.

Then, he was part of India's playing XI in the T20I series opener in Canberra, but didn't get the opportunity to bowl as the match was washed out due to rain in the city. In the second game of the five-match series, however, he registered figures of 2/45.

Then, he was dropped from the playing XI for the third match in Hobart and was replaced by Washington Sundar. And now, after the conclusion of the match, he has been sent back home.

This decision has been made by Gautam Gambhir-led team management to provide some red-ball game time to Kuldeep Yadav, as he will play for India A against South Africa A before the start of the main series.

"The Indian team management has requested to release Kuldeep Yadav from the ongoing T20I series in Australia to allow him to participate in the India A series against South Africa A at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. The second four-day match starts on 6th November.

"The decision has been taken to provide Kuldeep with red-ball game time in preparation for the upcoming IDFC First Bank two-match Test series against South Africa," the BCCI stated.

India’s updated squad for 4th and 5th T20I:

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.

India A’s updated squad for the 2nd four-day game:

Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Sai Sudharsan (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurnoor Brar, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav

Credit to India - they bowled really well - Mitchell Marsh

India won the third T20I by five wickets to level the series 1-1. Speaking after the defeat, Mitchell Marsh said that Australia were 20 runs short in the match. He said:

"Yeah, we were probably 20 runs short. Credit to India - they bowled really well. We gave it our best in the field, but they deserved the win. (Learnings from having to bat first) We just needed those extra 20 runs. I liked the intent from our batters, especially Tim David, who came in after early wickets and played superbly."

Also Read: "Felt like right combination": Suryakumar Yadav sends strong message to Gautam Gambhir over Arshdeep Singh