India’s defeat against the West Indies has sparked questions about the team management’s selection strategy, with former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin expressing surprise over Kuldeep Yadav’s absence from the playing XI in the fourth T20I.
India lost the match by 24 runs in Hyderabad on Wednesday after the West Indies posted a massive total of 247/3. The hosts were bowled out for 223 in 19.3 overs while chasing the target. Shai Hope was the star of the innings, scoring an unbeaten 102 off just 50 balls.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ash Ki Baat, Ashwin questioned why India chose to leave out Kuldeep Yadav despite the West Indies batters’ difficulties against his wrist-spin variations. He felt the spinner could have been particularly effective on a pitch where some bounce was expected.
Ashwin pointed out that although the ground had not always been favourable for spinners, the West Indies batters had struggled to pick Kuldeep Yadav’s googly and leg-spin. He believed leaving him out in such circumstances was difficult to understand and lacked basic cricketing sense.
The former India spinner added that Kuldeep Yadav’s presence could potentially have made a difference of 15–20 runs, which might have proved crucial in a high-scoring contest. However, Ashwin supported India’s decision to leave Kuldeep out of the playing XI in Indore earlier, explaining that the ground’s small dimensions made the selection of additional fast bowlers understandable.
He also disagreed with the suggestion that Kuldeep Yadav’s performance in the second T20I in Ranchi was responsible for India’s inability to defend a total of 249. Kuldeep had returned figures of 1/53 in that match but Ashwin argued that blaming the defeat on the spinner was unfair and that such criticism was misplaced.
Kuldeep Yadav has an impressive record against the West Indies in T20I cricket. In 11 matches against them, he has taken 20 wickets at an average of 15.70 and an economy rate of 7.13. These numbers underline why Ashwin believes the left-arm wrist-spinner could have been a valuable option for India.
Earlier, when Kuldeep Yadav was left out in Indore, captain Shreyas Iyer explained that the team had opted for more fast bowlers because they expected to play on flat pitches against the West Indies.
Despite that reasoning, Ashwin’s latest comments have brought the selection decision back into focus, raising questions about whether India missed an opportunity by leaving out one of their most effective spin options against the Caribbean side.
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