Former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath slammed team management for not giving a chance to Kuldeep Yadav in the ODI series against England. Yadav didn’t get a single game and was also excluded in the final game of the series despite the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.

Yadav was also not picked in the first two ODIs against England as the spin duo of Washington Sundar and Axar Patel were picked ahead of him. It is clear that the management is backing spin and seam-bowling all-rounders ahead of Yadav. Since July 2024, Kuldeep has featured in 38 games out of 103 matches across all formats for India.

India made three changes to their playing XI as KL Rahul, Prince Yadav and Arshdeep Singh were added to the team.

Kuldeep has scalped 194 ODI wickets in 121 matches at an average of 27.05 and thus has an impressive record in the 50-over format.

Subramaniam Badrinath said on his YouTube Channel, “Kuldeep Yadav is India’s highest wicket-taker in ODIs in the last five years with 87. Yet, he doesn’t have a place in the 11. He’s a wrist spinner who’s also a wicket-taker. Why is Kuldeep Yadav not playing? England have scored over 380 and you’ve Kuldeep, who’s the second biggest X-factor for India with the ball after Bumrah. There is something going on with selections. Some players are randomly selected while others aren’t.”

Badrinath added that India’s bowling looked like an unlimited buffet in the last ODI at Lord’s after they conceded 387 runs.

“The Indian bowling looked like an unlimited buffet in the final ODI. Whenever Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah don’t play, the team really struggles. You can keep bringing Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana but without Hardik and Bumrah, the bowling will never be good. It looks like an open buffet,” said Badrinath (via the aforementioned source).

India’s next ODI series is at home against the West Indies.