Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar sounded extremely disappointed with India’s decision to leave out Kuldeep Yadav from the second Test against Bangladesh that got underway in Dhaka on Thursday, December 22. Kuldeep had to make way for a third seamer in Jaydev Unadkat.
The decision comes as a surprise after his Player of the Match outing in the last game in Chattogram, which was also his comeback match. He picked up eight wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings and played an integral role as India thrashed the hosts by 188 runs to take a 1-0 lead. He also registered his career-best figures of 8/113.
Sunil Gavaskar reckoned that India should have dropped either Axar Patel or Ravichandran Ashwin to accommodate Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI. Speaking on Sony Sports Network, the veteran said:
“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,” he added.
Feel for Kuldeep Yadav. Took 8 wickets and scored the crucial 40 runs with the Man Of The Match award, but sits out in the very next match.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 22, 2022
Meanwhile, Indian skipper KL Rahul, who is leading the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma, termed it unfortunate to leave out Kuldeep Yadav.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan had won the toss and opted to bat in Dhaka. The hosts have made two changes to their XI, with batter Mominul Haque and fast bowler Taskin Ahmed replacing Yasir Ali and Ebadot Hossain.
India and Bangladesh Playing XIs
India: KL Rahul (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto, Zakir Hasan, Mominul Haque, Litton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Nurul Hasan (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed
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