Reports: Kuldeep Yadav carrying a shoulder injury from the day he landed in New Zealand

Kuldeep Yadav is going through possibly the worst phase of his international career. Once touted as the X-factor of the Indian white-ball set-up and a potential all-format bowler, the stocks of the Chinaman have nosedived in the past 8-10 months.

Kuldeep had a forgettable outing in the first One-day International in Hamilton where he conceded 84 runs in his quota of ten overs- which included ten boundaries and a six. It is the most number of runs that Kuldeep has conceded in his 60-match ODI career.

But ever since his forgettable display in Hamilton, more and more questions are being raised on both his form and most importantly his fitness. Kuldeep, it seems is suffering from a shoulder injury, as per reports by Bangalore Mirror. He has been carrying this injury right from the day he landed in New Zealand.

The Indian team had conducted two practice sessions during the T20I series- one on January 23, a day before the first T20I at Auckland and then on January 28 ahead of the third T20I- and Kuldeep bowled in neither of them.

In fact, he was almost unselectable in the recently-concluded five-match Twenty20 International series and one of the commentators said during the T20Is that he had a chat with Kuldeep and he was informed that it will take at least one week for him to return to full throttle.

Kuldeep Yadav was seen struggling in the first ODI

And, those who witnessed Kuldeep in the first ODI at Seddon Park would have realized that he wasn’t bowling at full throttle as he was struggling to bowl his stock delivery: the wrong’un.

Ravichandran Ashwin was picked for the Champions Trophy final against Pakistan back in 2017 when it was in common knowledge that he was struggling with niggles. Back in 2018, the same Ravichandran Ashwin was played in the Southampton Test against England when once again he wasn’t fully fit. India lost both the games and Ashwin was blamed for both of those defeats.

Coming back to Kuldeep, it will be interesting to see whether the team management persists with him in Auckland or do they rope in Yuzvendra Chahal in what is a do-or-die encounter for the Men in Blue.

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