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India’s former off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned the way Kuldeep Yadav has been handled by the current Indian cricket team management. He slammed Gautam Gambhir and the Indian selectors for overlooking Kuldeep Yadav despite his proving his match-winning ability many times.
Kuldeep was not picked in the T20I squads for the upcoming Ireland and England tours as well as for the Asian Games 2026. The left-arm wrist spinner was already frustrated after getting just one game during India's successful T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, and now he was handed another setback.
Ravichandran Ashwin calls Kuldeep Yadav's recent treatment 'Bizarre'
Ravichandran Ashwin believes that things were very different when Rahul Dravid was the head coach and Rohit Sharma was leading the team. During that period, Kuldeep Yadav enjoyed strong support from the management and was regularly backed even when he was struggling for form. That trust helped Kuldeep to become one of India's most effective bowlers across formats.
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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo: “The way Kuldeep Yadav has been handled is bizarre. When the last team management was around with Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma, Kuldeep was well backed, and everyone saw the proof in the pudding as he was delivering match-winning performances. But again, in the last 18 months, Kuldeep finds himself with a lot of question marks.”
Between 2021 and 2024, Kuldeep became a regular member of the Indian team. He played 6 Tests, 38 ODIs, and 17 T20Is during Dravid's tenure and delivered several match-winning performances. His ability to pick wickets in the middle overs made him one of India's biggest weapons.
However, since Gautam Gambhir took charge, Kuldeep has been in and out of the team because the coach has been preferring Varun Chakravarthy, even during the T20 World Cup 2026.
Ashwin urges Kuldeep Yadav to make Test cricket his top priority
However, Kuldeep remains part of India's Test plans and is currently playing in the ongoing one-off Test match against Afghanistan. And Ashwin feels this is the right time for the spinner to focus heavily on red-ball cricket and make a strong statement with his performances.
The former Indian all-rounder added, “Test cricket must now be his priority, and he must take it on.”
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Ashwin highlights double standards in India's spin selection
Ashwin admitted that Kuldeep's IPL 2026 season did not help his cause. The wrist-spinner picked up only 10 wickets and conceded runs at an economy rate of 10.30, which was the most expensive IPL season of his career.
However, he was also surprised by Ravi Bishnoi's selection because he did not have a standout IPL season either. He played only nine matches and took 11 wickets this season.
Ashwin said, “So, what goes around comes around. He didn’t have a great IPL, and on the back of not playing the back half of the IPL, he is back in the T20 setup. These are circular calls in many ways. But version 2.0 of Ravi Bishnoi needs to turn up because he misses his length way too much now than he must, and he must rediscover his mojo.”
