IND vs WI: Kuldeep Yadav Leaves India To Join The T20I Squad In West Indies

Indian spin bowler Kuldeep Yadav has left for the Caribbean to join India’s T20I squad for the five-match series against West Indies starting later this week.

The left-arm wrist spinner will be back in action after recovering from his injury. Kuldeep was named in India’s squad for the South Africa T20Is but owing to an unknown injury, the left-arm spinner missed the five matches followed by the Ireland and England tour.

Can’t wait to join my teammates and get going: Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep’s return to the national team comes after the 27-year-old was reportedly said to clear the fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.

Kuldeep took to his official Instagram handle to post a picture with his luggage and announced his departure to the Caribbean.

“See you soon Caribbean. Can’t wait to join my teammates and get going,” he wrote in his caption for his recent post uploaded on Sunday (July 24).

Kuldeep Yadav to push for his T20 World Cup selection

Kuldeep has played four games against West Indies and picked eight wickets at an average of 15.50 and an economy rate of 7.75. Kuldeep will have to make use of the opportunity to enhance his chances of getting selected for the T20 World Cup squad Down Under.

The wrist-spinner last played for India against Sri Lanka in February and also made giant strides in the IPL 2022, picking 21 wickets in 14 games for Delhi Capitals at an economy rate of 8.43.

Senior Indian players like Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Rishabh Pant have been rested for the ongoing three-match ODI series against West Indies but they will return to the squad for the shortest format. Young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi will also join the T20I squad and will provide an alternative to Kuldeep for spin bowling options.

The first T20I will be played at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad on July 29 before both teams move to St Kitt’s to play the second and third matches on August 1 and 2 respectively. The last two T20I games will be played in Florida, United States of America.

India’s T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi.

Also Read: Kuldeep Yadav begins rehab at NCA following injury