Had Kuldeep Yadav Played For Some Other Country, He Would Have Taken 200 Wickets And Played 50 Tests By Now, Says His Coach Kapil Pandey

Being Kuldeep Yadav is not easy at all. Not every day you have an extremely talented spin bowler who has a skill very few in cricket possess- being a left-arm leg-spinner or chinaman bowler. You have a brilliant start to the Test and international career, but find yourself out of the team for three years for no fault of your own.

This is what Kuldeep Yadav has been going through, and his coach Kapil Pandey feels that if he had been playing for some other team, he would have played 50 Tests by now and taken 200 wickets.

After spending the entire Test series of four matches in Australia on the bench, the 26-year-old was poised for a return to Test cricket when India took on England in the first Test of the four-match series in Chennai, but an injury to Akshar Patel meant that the team management went in with Washington Sundar again, for team balance.

Kuldeep Yadav is suffering, yet they are not giving him a chance: Coach Kapil Pandey

Kapil Pandey, Kuldeep Yadav’s coach for the past 17 years, said in an interview with Sportskeeda that India’s poor outing in Chennai was due to their inexperienced bowling unit. Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Nadeem were both playing their second Tests each, despite Nadeem having vast experience in domestic cricket.

“These players are not able to extract spin off the surface because they are just one or two Tests old, we can’t blame them. I am in coaching for the past 20 years, I have never seen players making the playing XI overnight. And Kuldeep Yadav is continuously traveling with them, suffering, yet they are not giving him a chance. There goes a proverb as ‘Ghar ki murgi daal barabar’ – so you are not trying to understanding him, you are not looking at his numbers, you are treating him like a normal cricketer,” said Kuldeep Yadav’s coach Kapil Pandey.

Pandey also said that while Kuldeep warming the bench in Australia was justified, he could not comprehend why the chinaman bowler was overlooked for the Chennai Test when Akshar Patel was ruled out due to injury.

Everyone should get a fair chance to show their skills: Kapil Pandey

“I feel Kuldeep Yadav is a bowler who can be played in any match, and should be played in any match. Because he is someone who has 24 wickets from 6 Tests and has never taken less than four wickets in domestic cricket. Since the team management has not been giving Kuldeep Yadav a chance for a long time, the pressure will automatically mount on him.

Everybody should be given equal chance, Washington Sundar is being given chances to prove himself, [Shahbaz] Nadeem has been given two chances, so why not Kuldeep Yadav? He has taken five wickets in his last Test innings in Australia, shouldn’t he be given a chance?” further said, Kapil Pandey.

He compared Kuldeep Yadav’s performances in the past with that of the bowlers who had gotten a chance ahead of him to represent the country.

“If he slightly underperforms even in one match, they sideline him. On the other hand, the rest of the players are given so many chances. You are including the player who is not in the team, who hasn’t got preparation. Where is the greatness of the captain and coach? The player who has been regularly practicing with the team is not getting a chance. Imagine how happy the coach of Nadeem would be thinking his pupil has earned a place without doing anything,” the coach signed off.

Also Read: India Should Include Kuldeep Yadav If They Play Three Spinners In The Upcoming Tests, Says Brad Hogg