India vs England: Michael Vaughan calls Team India's decision of not playing Kuldeep Yadav 'ridiculous'

Whenever India is playing, Michael Vaughan is always up with his opinions and views on the game. He is one of the most active social media users among former cricketers. And if it is India and England playing against each other, then you are bound to hear about him a lot more. On Friday, the two teams started the much-anticipated Test series in Chennai. 

After India announced their XI for the first Test, some eyebrows were raised. However, Vaughan made it a point to express his views about the selection on Twitter. The former England captain was quite vocal about not selecting Kuldeep Yadav in the XI. India selected three spinners for this match, Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Nadeem. 

Nadeem was not part of the squad initially, but Axar Patel, unfortunately, got injured ahead of the first day and was ruled out of the match. The selection suggests that Axar Patel was the first choice for the XI. Vaughan called the decision, “ridiculous.’ He also questioned that if he will not be playing at home conditions when the players are injured when was he going to?

If he isn’t going to play at home with the injuries, when is he going to play?: Michael Vaughan 

“Ridiculous decision by #India not to play @imkuldeep18 !!! If he isn’t going to play at home with the injuries they have when is he going to play !!! #INDvENG,” Vaughan wrote on Twitter. Kuldeep was not picked in the last Test in Australia, even though he was the spinner who was left in the squad who wasn’t injured. But Sundar got a chance then. 

Ridiculous decision by #India not to play @imkuldeep18 !!! If he isn’t going to play at home with the injuries they have when is he going to play !!! #INDvENG

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 5, 2021

Even for this Test, he was there in the squad with Axar, Sundar, and Ashwin. But, when Axar got injured even though he was in line to make his Test debut, it was expected that Kuldeep would play. However, he was swapped in for Shahbaz Nadeem, who was drafted into the Test squad on the morning of the first Test. 

Apart from this, it should be noted that Kuldeep is the only player who has experience of playing Tests. Until now, he has played six Tests, after making his debut in 2017. Sundar made his debut in Brisbane, Axar was going to make his debut in Chennai while Nadeem has played only one Test before this one.