'You really feel for Kuldeep Yadav' - Aakash Chopra doesn't approve team's idea of not including chinaman for Brisbane Test

Kuldeep Yadav is one of the best spinners that the Indian team has as of now. However, the young chinaman is going through a rough patch. He didn’t have a great IPL, was dropped in the middle of the tournament as his franchise went for a new spinner. And now, when finally there was a chance for him to play for India in the red-ball cricket, Washington Sundar was chosen over him. 

When the news of Ravichandran Ashwin being injured had come around in the build-up to the Gabba Test, Kuldeep and Sundar were in the consideration to make the final cut. But, when final XI arrived, Sundar’s name popped out. The Tamil Nadu spinner made his debut and got the wicket of Steve Smith on day one. However, a few cricket experts felt Kuldeep should have been picked. 

Chopra recalls Ravi Shastri’s words from 2018 Australian tour

Former India player Aakash Chopra said he felt it wasn’t fair on Kuldeep. He pointed out that the left-arm spinner was tagged as the ‘first overseas spinner’ by coach Ravi Shastri at the end of the previous tour of Australia when he had taken a five-fer in Sydney. 

“You really feel for him, I was there in Sydney when he took those 5-6 wickets, and that was when Ravi Shastri actually said, ‘he is our number 1 overseas,’ and I don’t know whether he has actually played a Test match since then. There was a chance of him playing in Ranchi when he got injured. So where does he go from here? It’s going to be tough. If you don’t play, you don’t become a better bowler by just sitting on the sidelines and warming the bench. So you feel for him,” said Chopra on ESPNCricinfo.

Chopra hints that Kuldeep Yadav might leave KKR

Aakash Chopra also talked about the possibility of Kuldeep leaving the rings of Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the IPL 2021. He only featured in five matches in the 2020 season in the UAE and picked only one wicket, before Varun Chakravarthy was permanently slotted in as the first-choice spinner. Kuldeep lost his spot from the T20I squad as well. 

“He may also want to take a call with the Kolkata Knight Riders. And if he doesn’t want to be there then get released. Because in the end, he needs to play. There was one bad IPL that actually ruled him out of Test cricket is what I heard. The perception was that his confidence was so down that he can’t play in any other format. If all that is going to be in consideration, then you’ve got to play for a franchise that at least allows you to play,” Aakash Chopra added.