Kuldeep Yadav at a crossroads as India spinners rise

Kuldeep Yadav (Photo by @BCCI on X)

TimesofIndia.com in Mullanpur: On the eve of the one-off Test against Afghanistan, Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir categorically stated that one of Manav Suthar or Harsh Dubey would be the fourth spinner for the two-match series against Sri Lanka, scheduled for August this year. Suthar, who eventually got the nod ahead of Dubey, picked up seven wickets, including a six-wicket haul in the first innings in New Chandigarh. He also scored a valuable 28 with the bat, which batting coach Sitanshu Kotak described as "satisfying" while praising the debutant after India's thumping innings and 300-run win. With Ravindra Jadeja rested for this Test and set to return for the Sri Lanka series, Washington Sundar cementing his spot as an all-rounder in the playing XI and now Suthar's rise, the biggest question is: where does that leave Kuldeep Yadav? The team management appears to have little faith in Kuldeep's batting. The wrist-spinner did not play a single Test in England, where the pitches were arguably more suited to his style of bowling.

Kuldeep Yadav's numbers in Test cricket. (Image: TimesofIndia.com)

It is no secret that under coach Gautam Gambhir, players with multi-dimensional skills are preferred. Examples include Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana, who have flourished under this regime because they provide extra batting depth. Kuldeep might not be a walking wicket in Tests, but more than his batting, his bowling has looked concerning at home. Since missing out in England, he has played five Tests and picked up 23 wickets. Yet he has often failed to make a decisive impact. In Guwahati against South Africa, where Simon Harmer picked up nine wickets, Kuldeep took four wickets in the first innings while conceding close to four runs per over and then went wicketless in the second innings, where he bowled 12 overs.

How other India spinners have fared since Kuldeep Yadav's Test debut. (Image: TimesofIndia.com)

Even against Afghanistan, where one would have expected him to run through an inexperienced batting line-up, the 31-year-old lacked penetration. In the first innings, he went wicketless in his 10 overs. He did get among the wickets in the second innings, but two of his three scalps were tailenders. Kuldeep has already been dropped from India's T20I squads for the upcoming series against Ireland and England. He played only one match in the 2026 T20 World Cup, with Varun Chakravarthy preferred ahead of him, and now Ravi Bishnoi has seemingly moved ahead in the pecking order. Kuldeep also endured an underwhelming IPL campaign, managing only 10 wickets in 12 games while conceding more than 10 runs per over.

How Kuldeep Yadav's Test career trajectory has changed in nine years. (Image: TimesofIndia.com)

Overall, Kuldeep's Test career has been a curious one. So far, he has played 18 Tests, six each under Ravi Shastri, Rahul Dravid and now Gautam Gambhir. During the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2019, following Kuldeep's five-wicket haul at the SCG, Shastri famously declared him India's "frontline No. 1 overseas spinner". But he soon slipped down the pecking order as Jadeja was preferred because of his batting ability. At home, he never enjoyed an extended run with R Ashwin and Jadeja terrorising opposition batting line-ups. And then Axar Patel also emerged as an option ahead of the chinaman. Now, once again, Kuldeep finds himself at a crossroads.