Former BCCI chief selector backs 368-wicket bowler Kuldeep Yadav to play across all three formats for India

Former BCCI chief selector backs 368-wicket bowler Kuldeep Yadav to play across all three formats for India originally appeared on Cricket News.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Former BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad has backed Kuldeep Yadav to feature across all three formats for India.
• Prasad called him India‘s only genuine specialist spinner ahead of the Sri Lanka Test series.
• Kuldeep has 368 international wickets yet faces another wait in Sri Lanka.

MSK Prasad backs Kuldeep Yadav to play across all three formats for India

Kuldeep Yadav’s persistent struggle to command a regular place in India’s teams has drawn a firm intervention from a former national selector. MSK Prasad has argued that the left-arm wrist-spinner, one of the country’s most potent match-winners, deserves to be a fixture across all three formats rather than a perennial reserve.

The debate has resurfaced ahead of India’s two-Test series in Sri Lanka, where Kuldeep is again at risk of being squeezed out. The team management under Gautam Gambhir has shown a marked preference for all-rounders who offer batting depth, a policy that has repeatedly left the specialist spinner carrying drinks.

Prasad believes that thinking overlooks Kuldeep’s rare and decisive skill set. Having watched the spinner warm the bench through the recent ODI series defeat in England, the former selector made a pointed case for his inclusion at every level.

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Prasad’s case for the specialist spinner

Prasad drew a clear distinction between Kuldeep and the other slow bowlers in the squad. Speaking to RevSportz, he said, “Kuldeep is the only genuine spinner in this side, while others, be it Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel or Washington Sundar, are spin all-rounders. And he is a genuine match-winner — the record speaks for itself. Kuldeep should be in the team’s scheme of things across all three formats.”

He was equally clear that Manav Suthar’s emergence should not come at Kuldeep’s expense. Prasad said, “Yes, Suthar bowled well on his Test debut, but with Jadeja back for the Sri Lanka series, he could have been kept on the sidelines. He played the Test against Afghanistan because Jadeja was rested. There was no harm if he were waiting in the wings on this tour.”

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A rare skill set backed by the numbers

For Prasad, the scarcity of a bowler of Kuldeep’s type is precisely why he should never be overlooked. He said, “See, a chinaman bowler is a rare breed. And not often do you get a bowler of Kuldeep’s control and skill set. He should play across formats.”

The record supports the argument emphatically. Kuldeep has claimed 368 international wickets in all, the bulk of them coming in white-ball cricket, where he has 194 scalps from 121 ODIs at a best of 6/25 and a further 95 in 54 T20Is with a best of 5/17. In the longest format, he has been used sparingly, yet still boasts 79 wickets from just 18 Tests with a best of 5/40, a strike rate that lays bare how much India have left on the table by keeping him out.

In Sri Lanka, however, he could again be caught in a logjam, with India carrying a four-pronged spin attack of Jadeja, Kuldeep, Suthar and the uncapped Saransh Jain. The likely presence of several left-handers in Sri Lanka’s order may tempt India towards off-spinner Jain, leaving the third spinner’s berth a contest between Kuldeep and Suthar.

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A familiar injustice that India can ill afford

There is a persuasive logic to Prasad’s frustration, and it speaks to a wider tension in India’s selection philosophy. Prioritising batting depth is defensible on paper, but doing so at the cost of a proven wicket-taker like Kuldeep can blunt the very cutting edge that wins matches in helpful conditions.

The irony, as Prasad implies, is that India keep sidelining arguably their most incisive spinner in the name of balance. Wrist-spin of his quality is a genuine rarity, and a bowler with 368 international scalps should be central to the plan rather than repeatedly asked to wait. On turning tracks in Sri Lanka, leaving him out again would be a gamble India may come to regret.

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