Ravindra Jadeja Stopping Me And Kuldeep Yadav From Playing Together, Says Yuzvendra Chahal

The Indian team-management has sprung quite a surprise with its treatment of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. Not very long, the two were an indispensable part of the ODI and the T20I teams. However, they are now rarely included together in the playing eleven. In the recent past, the team has preferred only one of them at a time in the playing eleven.

The decision is really baffling because of the way Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal had performed together. They have played 34 ODI together and scalped 65 wickets at an average of 22.73. Despite these good numbers, India haven’t played them together in an ODI since their ICC World Cup 2019 group stage clash against England.

Also Read: ODI Series Defeat Against New Zealand Is Not Something Very Serious To Ponder About: Yuzvendra Chahal

Even in T20Is, they boast a good record and have scalped 22 wickets in 10 matches. However, Kuldeep and Chahal haven’t featured together in an India XI in the shortest format since July 2018. And as the team-management’s decision keeps surprising everyone, Yuzvendra Chahal himself revealed the reason behind it.

The leg-spinner stated that Ravindra Jadeja has been stopping the team-management from playing him and Kuldeep Yadav together in the playing eleven. The right-arm spinner said that with Jadeja performing well with both bat and ball, the team-management is finding it tough to play both him and Kuldeep.

“I think Jaddu pa (Ravindra Jadeja) is playing extraordinary well – be it in his fielding, batting or bowling. That is why I play half the games and Kuldeep plays the others. Our main motivation is that the team gets the right combination,” said Yuzvendra Chahal after the third ODI against New Zealand.

“Sometimes, all three of us have played together. Going forward, if there will be wickets favouring us, all of us will play together again,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kuldeep played just one ODI in the ongoing tour of New Zealand and warmed the bench throughout the five-match T20I series. He failed to do well in his solo appearance, going for 84 runs off 10 overs. On the other hand, Chahal played in all the five T20Is as well as last two ODIs.