Gautam Gambhir reveals why Kuldeep Yadav isn’t finding a place in India’s Test XI

India coach Gautam Gambhir recently opened up on star spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s exclusion from India’s Test XI. The left-arm chinaman bowler was one big name missing during the recent two-match Bangladesh Test series.

Although the Indian team put up an emphatic display to secure a 2-0 clean sweep over their Asian rivals, the decision to drop Kuldeep Yadav from the playing XI attracted a lot of criticism. Interestingly, Kuldeep Yadav was included in the 16-member squad announced for the series.

Now, ahead of the upcoming three-match India vs New Zealand Test, Gautam Gambhir gave a justification for the decision.

Gambhir made the revelation while addressing the media in the pre-match conference ahead of the series opener against the Kiwis.

Gambhir said, “We don’t leave anyone out. We select the playing XI who can do the job for us. And also we’ve got a lot of quality, not just only Kuldeep in the ranks but we’ve got a lot of other quality bowlers and players in the squad as well.”

Kuldeep Yadav ranks low in the pecking order for Tests

While Kuldeep’s name has once again been included in the squad for the New Zealand series, it remains to be seen if he will feature in the playing XI.

Kuldeep’s last appearance in red-ball cricket came for India earlier this year during the five-match England series. Kuldeep played 4 matches in the series against England and picked up 19 wickets and was also able to make some contributions with the bat.

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Although Kuldeep has been an integral cog for India in white-ball cricket and was a part of the T20 World Cup 2024 winning team, he has often been in and out of the Test team with India’s frontline spinners being R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

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