TimesofIndia.com at Milanpur: On the eve of the lone Test against Afghanistan, Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir had made it clear that either Manav Sathar or Harsh Dubey would be the fourth spinner for the two-match series against Sri Lanka scheduled for August this year.Sathar, who eventually got the nod ahead of Dubey, took seven wickets, including six in the first innings at New Chandigarh. He also scored a valuable 28 with the bat, which batting coach Sitanshu Kotick described as “satisfying” as he praised the debutant after India’s brilliant innings and 300-run win.with the Ravindra Jadeja Rested for this Test and ready to return for the Sri Lanka series, Washington Sundar Consolidating his place as an all-rounder in the playing XI and now the rise of Sathar, the big question is where does this leave him? Kuldeep Yadav?The team management seems to have little faith in Kuldeep’s batting. The wrist-spinner did not play a single Test in England, where the pitches suited his style of bowling better.
Kuldeep Yadav’s numbers in test cricket. (Photo: TimesofIndia.com)
It is no secret that multi-talented players are preferred under coach Gautam Gambhir. Examples include Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana, who flourished in this regime as they provide additional batting depth.Kuldeep may not be a walking wicket in Tests, but more than his batting, his bowling looks at home. Since being out in England, he has played five Tests and taken 23 wickets. Yet he has often failed to make a decisive impact.Against South Africa in Guwahati, where Simon Harmer took nine wickets, Kuldeep took four wickets at around four runs per over in the first innings and then went wicketless in the second innings, where he bowled 12 overs.
How have other Indian spinners fared since Kuldeep Yadav’s Test debut? (Photo: TimesofIndia.com)
Even against Afghanistan, where he might have been expected to go through an inexperienced batting line-up, the 31-year-old lacked penetration. In the first innings, he went wicketless in his 10 overs. He took wickets in the second innings, but two of his three were wickets.Kuldeep has already been dropped from India’s T20I squad for the upcoming series against Ireland and England. He played just one match in the 2026 T20 World Cup, with Varun Chakraborty preferred ahead of him, and now Ravi Bishnoi has apparently moved up the pecking order. Kuldeep also endured an underwhelming IPL campaign, picking up just 10 wickets in 12 games while conceding more than 10 runs per over.
How has Kuldeep Yadav’s Test career changed in nine years? (Photo: TimesofIndia.com)
Overall, Kuldeep’s Test career has been interesting. So far, he has played 18 Tests, six under Ravi Shastri, Rahul Dravid and now Gautam Gambhir. During the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2019, after Kuldeep took five wickets at the SCG, Shastri famously called him India’s “frontline number”. 1 overseas spinner”.But he soon fell down the pecking order as Jadeja was preferred for his batting ability. At home, he never enjoyed long runs with R Ashwin and Jadeja terrorizing the opposition batting line-up. And then Akshar Patel also emerged as an option ahead of Chinaman.Now, once again, Kuldeep finds himself at a crossroads.
