NEWS
Follow UsDespite winning the Test series against Bangladesh 2-0, the major talking point was the fact that Kuldeep Yadav, who had won the player of the match for his eight wickets and scoring 40, was dropped for the second Test in Dhaka. India wanted to go in for an extra pacer and as a result, Jaydev Unadkat was roped in to play his first Test in 12 years.
While understanding India's decision, Kuldeep's childhood coach Kapil Pandey says he fails to understand the logic of keeping a match-winner like Kuldeep out of the XI.
"We all want Team India to win and that’s the ultimate goal. I completely understand that the captain and coach try and make a combination to help the team win. But then it is not right to keep one of your match-winners on the bench. How long will this continue?," Pandey said in an interview to Sportskeeda.
"No Indian would want the Indian team to lose. But at the same time, a player who has done well in the little chances that he received deserves a longer rope."
Kuldeep has been in and out of the Test side having played just eight times for India since making his debut in 2017. Pandey however revealed that Kuldeep took the decision by the team management in a positive way.
"Kuldeep has become a lot more patient with time. Initially, I used to worry a lot about this kid when he didn’t used to get the deserved chances. He has two ODI hattricks, one hattrick for India A and also one more in the U19 World Cup," Pandey said.
"Despite being the Man of the Match, when he was dropped in the second Test, I didn’t know how to console him because I myself was in tears. But the way he told me to stay patient and keep faith that things will work out eventually, shows how matured he has become," he said.
Kuldeep could once again be seen in action in the One-Day International (ODI) series against Sri Lanka, starting January 10. India will play three T20 Internationals (T20I) against Sri Lanka before that, but the wrist spinner has not been picked for that.
