BA vs IN: Gavaskar angry on 'dropping' Kuldeep

Sunil Gavaskar reacted with fury when Team India decided not to include Kuldeep Yadav in the starting lineup for the second Test of the series against Bangladesh.

In the second Test of the series on Thursday, India took the field without Kuldeep Yadav, surprising both current and former cricketers. In the first Test, Kuldeep had a player of the match performance, taking five wickets and finishing with eight dismissals. India reached a strong total of 404 in the first innings thanks to the spinner’s important lower-order 40.

Jaydev Unadkat, a pacer, took Kuldeep’s place

This is Jaydev’s first Test for India since 2010. While former India captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at the team management for making the decision, KL Rahul acknowledged that the spinner’s absence was an “unfortunate” one.

Considering the choice “unfathomable,” Gavaskar said that they might have dropped some other spinner assuming the choice was based on the premise of the idea of the try out.

“Dropping a Man of the Match, that is unbelievable. That’s the only word I can use and it’s a gentle word. I would like to use quite stronger words, but it’s unbelievable that you left out a man of the match, who got eight out of the 20 wickets. You have got two other spinners. So surely, one of the other spinners could have been dropped. But this guy, who took eight wickets should have played today with due respect to what the pitch looks like”

Gavaskar was quoted as saying to Sony Sports Network.

For the first time since March 2021, Kuldeep had returned to the Indian Test squad. He had scored 5/40 and 3/73 in each of the first Test’s two innings, which were impressive.

ALSO READ: PAK vs NZ: Hasan Ali returns as Pakistan name Test squad for New Zealand

Shakib Al Hasan, captain of Bangladesh, had won the toss earlier and decided to bat in Dhaka. Yasir Ali and Ebadot Hossain have been replaced by batter Mominul Haque and fast bowler Taskin Ahmed in the hosts’ XI.