'Look at him solely as...': Murali Kartik's special request to Gautam Gambhir over Kuldeep Yadav ahead of Sri Lanka Tests

India will lock horns against Sri Lanka in the first of the two-match Test series, starting from August 15, Saturday at the Galle International Stadium in Galle. Ahead of the first Test, there is a lot of chatter around Kuldeep Yadav's place in the Playing XI as he has not been a regular starter across all three formats.

Murali Kartik makes special request for Kuldeep Yadav

Reacting to this, former India spinner Murali Kartik urged the Indian team management to handle Kuldeep with extra care by giving him confidence and certainty in the Sri Lanka Tests. The former India international recalled how the left-arm spinner performed exceptionally well under Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma across all formats of the game.

Kuldeep saw himself getting demoted in the pecking order because of his underwhelming batting skills as head coach Gautam Gambhir prefers bowlers who can bat decently well.

ALSO READ: Rishabh Pant drops in ICC Test Batting Rankings as Babar Azam returns to Top 10

In an interaction with News 18, Kartik noted that Kuldeep is a decent batter as he has shown his temperament in the longest format as a nightwatchman. However, Kartik admitted that Kuldeep can't bat like Ravindra Jadeja but can do his job pretty well.

"He’s not a rabbit with the bat. He can definitely hold the bat—we’ve seen him bat as nightwatchman and occupy the crease for long periods. Maybe he doesn’t have the hitting ability of Jadeja and Ashwin, but I wouldn’t look at him from that angle. Look at him solely as a spin bowler, and he’s a wonderful bowler, a match‑winner who’s picked wickets in different countries," said Kartik.

While continuing, Kartik urged the management to handle Kuldeep with extra care, as a spinner wants to be involved in the scheme of things. Towards the end, Kartik noted that certainty was the main factor behind Kuldeep's success under the previous leadership.

“The key is he needs to be handled well. He’s had his share of injuries, even recently he struggled with his groin. But every time we talk about him playing, he’s not featured. You want consistency for Kuldeep. As a spinner, you want to know you’re a certainty—then you work very differently. The way Rohit and Rahul handled him was different, and maybe that’s why Ashwin and Jadeja, who were part of that regime, feel that," added Kartik.

India's updated squad for Sri Lanka Tests:

Shubman Gill (c), KL Rahul (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Auqib Nabi, Sarfaraz Khan.