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India veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja opened up on why Kuldeep Yadav is not getting a chance in the team's playing XI in the ongoing five-Test match series against England. Kuldeep, who was excluded from India's Test squad against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, has been included in the team for the England series, but he is yet to feature against the Three Lions.
After India's defeat in the first Test, former cricketers and experts suggested Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill to feature with Kuldeep in the second Test, considering his wicket-taking abilities. Indian management also announced that the team will feature two spinners, but they picked Washington Sundar over Kuldeep to keep the batting strong. Sundar also chipped in well with the bat, scoring 42 off 103, which helped India to score a mammoth total of 587 runs.
After the end of Day 2 of the second Test, when asked about Kuldeep Yadav, Jadeja praised the spinner, saying that he will be a wicket-taking option.
“That is beyond your control. What I can say is that when he plays he will be a wicket-taking option. Of late, we have been spending a lot of time and off the field, we don’t talk much about the game” said Ravindra Jadeja while addressing media after Day 2's play.
Kuldeep Yadav made his Test debut in 2017 against Australia at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala. He played 13 Tests, where he picked up 56 wickets. Kuldeep's last Test outing came against New Zealand in 2024.
Coming back to the 2nd Test, In reply to India's daunting 587, England faced early blows and Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj made early inroads. The duo bowled in tandem and removed Ben Duckett (0), Ollie Pope (0) and Zak Crawley (19) within the blink of an eye. Joe Root and Harry Brook stitched a comeback by raising an unbeaten 52-run stand to propel England to 77/3 at the end of a pulsating day.
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