It’s not easy being Kuldeep Yadav — talented enough to make every Test squad, yet expendable enough to miss out when the team sheets are drawn on match morning. The 30-year-old left-arm wrist spinner has become Indian cricket’s unsolved puzzle: recognized but rarely rewarded, applauded but seldom picked.
The Leeds Test loss to England — where India fell by five wickets — is just the latest example in a long-running pattern of missed opportunities. Despite a dry Headingley pitch and a pace attack visibly lacking venom without Shami and a fully fit Bumrah, Kuldeep didn’t make the XI.
And the numbers? They’re startling.
Since debuting in March 2017, Kuldeep has played just 13 Tests in over seven years. That’s across nine series, with him managing to feature in more than one game in a series only twice. Twice he’s been named Player of the Match, and both times, he didn’t play the next Test. Few in international cricket have been as brutally underutilized.
India’s spin riches have often worked against Kuldeep. At home, the combination of R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel – all of whom offer more with the bat – edges him out. Overseas, the team rarely plays more than one spinner. When they do, the slot goes to Jadeja or Ashwin, based on batting value.
It was believed things would change in India’s transition phase, with Ashwin nearing the twilight of his career and fast bowling fitness becoming unreliable. Kuldeep’s unique skillset — a rare wrist spinner with control and aggression — made him the ideal candidate for overseas conditions, especially as pitches flatten out deep into Tests.
Yet here we are, post-Headingley, debating his exclusion again.
The irony stings. Just three months ago, against this very England lineup in Dharamshala, Kuldeep dismantled them and walked away with the Player-of-the-Match award. Names like Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, and Stokes had no answers.
His most recent Test performances show more than just wickets. In Chattogram against Bangladesh, he not only spun a web but also scored a gritty 40, proving his batting utility. Against England in Ranchi last year, he walked in with India reeling at 177/7 and stitched a critical stand with Dhruv Jurel, scoring 28 off 131 balls — a rescue act in every sense.
Kuldeep may be a No. 8 batter, but he’s no mug. He bats time, absorbs pressure, and contributes far more than just tail-end fireworks.
With the Birmingham Test at Edgbaston starting July 2, conditions may finally demand a rethink. Local forecasts predict a heat wave, with temperatures pushing 30°C, a rarity in the English summer. The pitch, like Headingley, is expected to be flat and dry — ideal for a wrist spinner to exploit rough patches and test both edges.
Moreover, England’s top order, particularly left-handers like Stokes and Duckett, appeared unsure against spin in the first Test. They didn’t fully trust their defense even against the more conventional Jadeja — an opening Kuldeep could exploit with his sharp drift and turn.
Perhaps it’s the age-old Indian obsession with batting depth. Perhaps it’s the comfort of playing safe. But as England plays the Bazball card, India needs strike bowlers who can disrupt rhythm and pick wickets — not just hold ends.
Kuldeep is that X-factor. He may go for a few runs, but he gets wickets — and that’s how you win Tests.
