Kuldeep Yadav omission from T20I squad vs SL stuns Ex-IND star: 'No idea why he isn't playing'
Kuldeep, who played a pivotal role in India's T20 World Cup triumph, failed to make the cut in the T20I squad for the Sri Lanka series.
Team India's squad selection for the Sri Lanka tour has turned out to be a shocker for many, as several in-form players failed to make the cut. Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad, who did decent jobs on the recently concluded Zimbabwe tour, were dropped while another major omission which grabbed many eyeballs was Kuldeep Yadav's exclusion from the T20I squad. The left-arm wrist spinner has been India's mainstay in the spin department for the last couple of years in T20Is; he also played a pivotal role in India's T20 WC triumph last month.
The All India selection committee went ahead with Ravi Bishnoi and Washington Sundar as the two spin-bowling options on the Sri Lanka tour. The BCCI didn't state any reason for Kuldeep's absence from the T20I squad.
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra was stunned after seeing Kuldeep missing out on the T20I team and picked only for the ODIs.
"Kuldeep Yadav's name is not there in T20 cricket. It's very surprising because the guy has come just now after winning the World Cup but his name is not there in T20 cricket. Has something happened that we don't know about? He is going with the ODI setup. I have got no idea why he isn't playing T20Is," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
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Another notable absentee from the Indian team was Ravindra Jadeja, who recently announced his retirement from T20Is, but he was not picked in the ODI squad.isIt was a shocker for many and might also indicate that India are looking for other all-round options for the Champions Trophy next year.
Chopra also questioned whether India have decided to move on from Jadeja and looking in other directions for the future.
"Yuzi Chahal also comes to mind. You were just now part of the World Cup. After that, you are nowhere. Ravindra Jadeja is also not part of ODI cricket. What's happening there? He has himself retired from T20Is but would have been available in ODIs. If he is available and is not being played despite that, have Team India started looking in some other direction?" Chopra observed.
