Kuldeep Yadav played none of the 10 Tests India competed in Australia and England. He was also left out of the England one-day series. At Galle last week he bowled 25 overs and took one wicket.

Gautam Gambhir was asked whether he is being underbowled. “It’s not about guys underbowling. It’s about getting the result,” he said, and pointed at the arithmetic of a five-bowler attack. “Someone will eventually go underbowled”. Who bowls, he said, is a matter of who the captain or the management think will be most threatening in the conditions.

He was warm about the bowler. The management has rated Kuldeep very highly for a long time, Gambhir said, and he is not being judged only on wickets taken. His advice has been to bowl a good spell rather than chase wickets, because a wristspinner who gets desperate loses control.

He committed to nothing. “We’re going to try and pick the best attack of what can deliver in these conditions,” he said, and separately that the combination would be the one most likely to take 20 wickets.

The recent record is mixed. Kuldeep played all five home Tests in 2025-26 but often turned the ball less than the finger spinners against South Africa, and India lost both those Tests. He was the third choice of India’s three left-arm spinners at Galle.

The squad’s only other spin option is Saransh Jain, described as more of a batting allrounder.