Kuldeep Yadav was at his best in the IND vs WI 1st ODI and took four wickets, leaving him two scalps short of completing 200 dismissals in ODIs. The 31-year-old hasn’t had a great 2026, having played just five, including the current one against the Windies and picking up just seven wickets. Yadav has also played just two Tests and four T20Is this year, which shows the lack of trust by the team management.

Michael Clarke, the former Australia captain, questioned the Indian cricket team management over the lack of chances for the left-arm wrist spinner. Speaking on his Beyond 23 podcast, the 45-year-old said: “There are very few spin bowlers who play all three formats of the game, and Kuldeep is the best all-format spinner in the world at this moment.”

Clarke also added, “He is a very good bowler in the shorter formats, but not getting enough chances, though I think he will play against Australia.” He was given one Test in the Sri Lanka Test series, with the bowler claiming one wicket.

Having made his ODI debut against the Caribbean in 2017, the spinner has played 122 ODIs and taken 198 wickets with two fifers. He has also picked up two hat-tricks, one of which was against the West Indians in 2019, where he got the wickets of Shai Hope, Jason Holder, and Alzarri Joseph.

After the Sri Lankan tour, the bowler went to England, where he played for Yorkshire in three county games. He scored 88 runs from five innings and also took 11 wickets with a best of 6/50 against Essex. With the likes of Axar Patel and Washington Sundar playing at the Asian Games, it is a great chance for Kuldeep to stake his claim to become a regular member of the side.

India’s playing XI in first ODI vs West Indies

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (C), Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Naman Dhir, Kuldeep Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna