Ajit Agarkar, chairperson of India’s selection committee, was thrilled to see their left-arm spinner perform well against a variety of opponents prior to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
Throughout the past few months, Kuldeep Yadav has been in excellent form. Recently, he was dubbed Player of the Series for his performance in the Asia Cup, in which he took nine wickets at an average of 11.44. This included a 5/25 against Pakistan as part of a record-setting 228-run victory.
Overall, his performance has been outstanding. Since the start of 2023, he has taken 31 ODI wickets at an average of 15.51 runs per wicket. In the same time frame, he has taken eight wickets at an average of 17.62 in T20 Internationals.
In December 2022, his final Test appearance earned him the Player of the Match award for his 8/113 against Bangladesh.
Although he is India’s primary spinner for the global mega event, he will not play in the first two ODIs of the forthcoming series against Australia.
Agarkar, speaking to the press after announcing the squad for the Australia games, referred to Kuldeep as a player with a unique skill set and believed that the team management’s faith and confidence were yielding fruit.
“I have spent a couple of years with him in the IPL,” Agarkar said. “He’s a guy with a special skill set, you can see that. Every player needs to be shown faith, given a bit of confidence which is what the Indian team management has done. And it’s probably showing on the field right now.”
Agarkar believed that Kuldeep was India’s key card, and he added that most teams found him to be a formidable opponent.
“You can see in various conditions against various oppositions. He’s one of India’s trump cards. So we’re very happy for him and excited to see what he’s doing on the cricket field at the moment.
“And hopefully he can continue doing that, because clearly most teams are finding him a challenge. All of us are very excited with what lies ahead.”
India’s 15-man squad for the impending Cricket World Cup has been announced. In addition to Kuldeep, their spin options include Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.
India will play two warm-up matches against England and the Netherlands, respectively, following its three-match ODI series against Australia. They open their World Cup campaign against Australia in Chennai on October 8.
