The KKR bowling coach Kyle Mills has insisted that Kuldeep Yadav is a world class spinner and the only reason he has not been picked in the KKR XI for the last couple of games is the team combination and the ground dimensions.
Kuldeep has been a regular member of India’s T20 set-up for the last couple of years, but surprisingly his place in the KKR XI is not certain and it’s not just this season, he had lost his spot in the KKR XI last season as well.
Kuldeep Yadav was KKR’s premier spinner at the start of IPL 2020
Kuldeep had started IPL 2020 as one of KKR’s premier spinner alongside Sunil Narine, but mid way through the tournament, Varun Chakravarthy came into the XI and overtook Kuldeep as the second choice spinner in the KKR XI.
Kuldeep is now third in the pecking order at KKR and is not an automatic pick in the XI unless the pitch is really dry and KKR decides to go with three spinners.
The pressure will now be mounting on Kuldeep from international cricket’s point of view as well because some of the young Indian wrist spinners are performing really well in IPL 2020 and if Kuldeep remains out of the playing XI, the likes of Ravi Bishnoi and Rahul Chahar might be able to catch the eyes of Indian selectors.
Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep’s leg spinning partner in the Indian team, continues to go from strength to strength and is probably the best performing leg spinner in IPL 2020. So, he is enhancing his position as India’s no. 1 spinner in T20 cricket, while Kuldeep seems to be losing his plot.
Kyle Mills, however, seemed to be supportive of Kuldeep as he talked to the media the other day.
“Kuldeep is one of the best spinners in the world. But just with the make-up of the group at the moment and the size of grounds, it’s the reason we went for this XI today and Kuldeep was left out,” Mills was quoted as saying.
“But Kuldeep is training the house down. He wants to get back into the starting XI, so competition within the group is certainly aiding our performance on the park,” Mills added.
