Follow UsIt was almost certain that Kuldeep Yadav would add to his tally of 13 Tests in the second Test against England at Edgbaston, but the Indian management, led by Gautam Gambhir, dropped a bombshell by ignoring the wrist-spinner, instead picking Washington Sundar over him.
Kuldeep’s non-selection has sent social media into meltdown, but this is not even the first time that the 30-year-old has been harshly treated by the management.
Kuldeep’s Test career has been a start-stop one, evident by the fact that he’s only played 13 Tests across eight years.
2017: Dropped after match-winning showing on Test debut
Kuldeep made his Test debut in the high-stakes Dharamshala encounter (series) in the 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy and bowled a series-defining spell in the first innings, taking 4/68. He ran through the Australian batting line-up and picked the wickets of Warner, Handscomb, and Maxwell. His spell helped India win both the match and the series.
However, he was dropped for the next two Tests India played. He only played the third Test of the Sri Lanka tour in Pallekele, where he took another 4-fer. After that, he would go on to sit out the next eight Tests India played.
2018: Picked on green top at Lord’s which had zero assistance for spin
In the 2018 England tour, India threw Kuldeep to the wolves by playing him on a green top at Lord’s. As it turned out, he only bowled 9 overs (in the only innings England batted) and conceded 44 runs without taking a wicket.
The pitch was so conducive to spin that England did not use a single ball of spin despite having Adil Rashid in the starting XI. 27 wickets fell in that game and all 27 wickets were taken by the seamers.
2019: Dropped for 2 years after Shastri terming him India’s ‘No.1 overseas spinner’
In the 2019 New Year’s Test against Australia in Sydney, Kuldeep picked the second five-fer of his Test career, his first away from home. On the back of that five-fer, head coach Ravi Shastri termed him India’s No.1 spinner in overseas Tests.
As it turned out, on the back of these comments, Kuldeep did not play for India for another two years, ignored for eight overseas Tests despite the head coach hyping him up.
In fact, Sydney 2019 remains the last Test played by Kuldeep outside the subcontinent.
2022: POTM showing vs Bangladesh, then ignored for 14 months
Kuldeep found a place in India’s starting XI in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram, and then produced a Player of the Match showing, taking 8 wickets (5/40, 3/73) while scoring 40 (114) with the bat in hand.
Much to the shock of everyone, Kuldeep got dropped in the very next match as India picked three seamers, with the returning Jaydev Unadkat taking the wrist-spinner’s place in the side.
Kuldeep would end up warming the bench for another 14 months.
2024: Best year of his Test career
After playing a Test each in 2019, 2021 and 2022, and no Tests in 2020, Kuldeep enjoyed his best year in Tests in 2024, playing as many as five Tests. He picked 22 wickets at an average of 23.09 and played a pivotal role in the team’s 4-1 series win over England at home. He played 3 of the 5 Tests against England and also played the Bengaluru Test against New Zealand.
That Bengaluru Test remains his last game in whites.
2025: Ignored for Edgbaston Test despite India playing two spinners
And here we are once again. New year, new captain, but same old pain for Kuldeep. He just can’t seem to catch a break in Test cricket.