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Former India left-arm spinner Maninder Singh has lauded left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav but does not feel that he will be part of the playing XI in the upcoming T20 Asia Cup 2025. Maninder feels that captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir will prefer Varun Chakravarthy over him and Axar Patel will be the second spinner as the latter can contribute with the bat as well.
“I doubt if they’re going to play Kuldeep Yadav if they’re going to play two spinners in the Asia Cup. It’s going to be Axar Patel because he can bat as well and Varun Chakravarthy,” Maninder told India Today.
Kuldeep’s last T20I and IPL 2025 numbers
Kuldeep's last T20I appearance was well over a year ago in the T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa where he remained wicketless and conceded 45 runs. In the IPL 2025, the Delhi Capitals (DC) spinner claimed 15 wickets at an average of 24.06. His economy rate was impressive at 7.07 runs per over.
Maninder slams team management for benching Kuldeep in England
Maninder feels Kuldeep was the missing piece in the puzzle for India on the England tour. He believes that the team was picked with a defensive mindset, not to go for the kill. He went on to say that England wouldn't have chased down 371 in the opening Test had Kuldeep been in the side.
“If they had played Kuldeep in the Test matches in England, India would have won the series 3-1," the 60-year-old said.
"Chasing 371 in the fourth innings, with the kind of bowlers you had, was always going to happen. But if you had Kuldeep Yadav in your side, I think in England we were selecting teams so that we don’t lose. If we were selecting the team to win, then Kuldeep Yadav would have played all five Test matches because there are not many of that breed in world cricket.
"The English batters wouldn’t have known what he was doing. They wouldn’t have read his googlies or leg-spinners. In the first Test match, they chased 371. There was no chance if he was playing on the fourth evening and fifth day that England could have chased,” he added.
Maninder backed Chakravarthy to repeat his heroics from Champions Trophy 2025 in the UAE. He labels him the most effective among the spinners in the T20I squad.
“He’s a material somebody, who’s very smart, not many of that breed in world cricket. So I feel that he’s going to be very effective amongst the three Indian spinners in the Asia Cup. He’s a very smart bowler. He knows how to bowl in different situations and reads batters very well. He may look blank on the outside, but he’s a real thinker,” said the spinner with 88 Tests and 66 ODI wickets.
India’s squad for T20 Asia Cup 2025
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
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