Former Indian skipper Anil Kumble reckons the team’s think tank and selectors have moved on from Kuldeep Yadav after he had a mundane run in IPL 2026 for Delhi Capitals. Yadav scalped 10 wickets in 12 matches of the season at an economy rate of 10.29 and average of 38.10.
The wrist spinner wasn’t at his absolute best and could not deliver for the franchise. After the conclusion of IPL 2026, Yadav was traded out to Lucknow Super Giants in place of Rishabh Pant.
For England T20Is, Ravi Bishnoi was picked ahead of Kuldeep Yadav. Varun Chakravarthy continues to be India’s first-choice spinner in the T20I format.
Anil Kumble said on Star Sports, “Kuldeep didn’t have a great IPL season but he’s a champion bowler. He should be part of the squad but has been left out here and in the team to Zimbabwe. It means that they’ve moved on from Kuldeep already with one bad performance in the IPL.”
“It’s not like Kuldeep is 38 and you are looking for the next youngster. He’s still young and is not a regular in all the three formats. So it’s not like he’s burdened and you need to rest him.”
On the other hand, former Indian assistant coach Abhishek Nayar questioned who is the team’s pack leader in the bowling department.
“Who’s the leader of this attack? Like a Bumrah or Hardik would do, who is going to tell the bowlers what to do and lead them? Arshdeep is your key bowler but he’s very different from a Prince Yadav and Harshit Rana. And no one has even clocked 140 in our team. Only Prince Yadav has come close and he has been the most effective,” said Nayar (via the aforementioned source).
Prince returned with impressive figures of 2-30 in his four overs in the third T20I against England.
He added, “Harshit has gone down on pace and Arshdeep is in the 130s. So you don’t have the bowlers who can come and pick wickets. Varun was touted as your wicket-taker but he hasn’t done that in the recent past. Axar Patel has always been restrictive as a bowler. Without Bumrah and Hardik, you suddenly see the void.”
The fourth T20I between England and India will be played at Bristol, County Ground on Thursday.
