Not too long ago Kuldeep Yadav was the lead spinner for India in the white-ball formats. The Chinaman also had a good World Cup and formed a deadly partnership with Ravindra Jadeja. However, it seems that is still enough as Kuldeep Yadav was not selected for the T20 series against Australia. Apart from Kuldeep, even his best mate Yuzvendra Chahal has not been picked for the five-match T20 series against the World Champions starting from November 23.
The BCCI selectors instead have gone to include Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar as the three spinners for the AUS series. Is this a sign that fans won’t see the famous ‘KULCHA’ in the T20 setup? Are Kuldeep and Chahal rested for the T20 series? Or are ‘KULCHA’ dropped from the T20 setup altogether? For now, only the selectors know the real answer. With the T20 World Cup about to commence from June 04, 2024, the selectors will have to identify the core players for the squad.
For the unversed, Kuldeep and Chahal last featured in the same team in ODI against Sri Lanka in 2021. Since then, it is only been one of the two that has featured in the Indian team due to tea combinations. Since the duo can’t bat, India have been forced to only play either Kuldeep or Chahal in the playing XI.
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Are selectors looking beyond KULCHA for the T20 World Cup?
The roadmap for the T20 World Cup begins with the T20 series against Australia. And for the same India have currently gone with Bishnoi and Sundar. The two spinners last featured in the Asian Games squad. Both players performed well and have been identified as prime spinners in the T20 setup. Apart from Bishnoi and Sundar, Axar has also been included in the side. The southpaw, who missed the bus for World Cup is back in the scheme of things.
Over the past year, BCCI have preferred to go with Axar as the prime spinner in the T20 squad. If the selectors find Bisnoi, and Sundar’s performance superb during the Australia series, then it would be tough for ‘KULCHA’ to make a comeback in the T20 setup.
India squad for T20 series against AUS: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar
