Kuldeep Yadav may have ended with 19 wickets, but he was certainly the best spinner in the India vs England Test series. Despite Tom Hartley and Ravichandran Ashwin ending up with more wickets, the left-arm spinner troubled batters the most and had the best strike rate and average for any spinner.
However, his success in India doesn’t matter much to Indian head coach Rahul Dravid. When asked about Kuldeep’s place in the playing XI when India travels abroad for a Test series next time (Australia), Dravid expressed uncertainty over his spot. Speaking in the press conference, he said:
“Let’s take it year by year. Even Ashwin, with 500 Test wickets, hasn’t played many games overseas because of the kind of wickets we get there.”
On how it’s been difficult for the wrist spinner to break through, with a spin trio of Ashwin, Axar, and Jadeja already formed, the Indian head coach said:
“It’s been tough on Kuldeep (Yadav); he is bowling at a time when there are legends of the game are playing as spinners. Even Axar Patel has done well for us too, both with bat and ball. Kuldeep’s work on his batting has been an absolute bonus.”
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