Kuldeep Yadav’s form is the reason for tensionImage Credit source: PTI
When New Zealand announced its squad for the India tour, everyone was surprised to see the players selected for the ODI series. It was believed that Team India would not face any challenge in the 3-match series and there would be a clean sweep of the Kiwi team. But New Zealand surprised everyone by winning the ODI series in India for the first time. The performance of some players was very disappointing in the defeat of Team India, in which Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja are everyone’s target. But the biggest loss to India was the failure of star spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
Indian team Kiwis started this series with a win in the first match but in the next two matches the Kiwi team overpowered them. In both these matches, while Indian batting came under question, the bowling was also very poor. In the second ODI, New Zealand achieved a huge target of 285 runs by losing only 3 wickets. In this match, the fast bowlers and spinners of Team India were equally beaten.
Kuldeep was beaten severely
But while the fast bowlers took some wickets in this series, the spin department was a complete flop. Ravindra Jadeja did not get a wicket in the entire series but Kuldeep’s failure was the most disturbing. Kuldeep could take only 3 wickets in this series. Now, as has been happening, this time too, if Kuldeep did not get a wicket, he was beaten a lot. In these 3 matches, he bowled 25 overs and gave away 182 runs. His average was 60.66 and economy rate was 7.28.
Left arm wrist spinner Kuldeep has been India’s biggest hope for wickets in the middle overs in ODIs and T20s and he has been performing accordingly. In the last ODI series against South Africa, he took 9 wickets in 3 matches. In such a situation, when Team India was looking in trouble in this series, then naturally there were expectations from Kuldeep that he would do some magic but it did not happen.
Such a situation before the World Cup?
Kuldeep Yadav’s flop in this series is disturbing because this performance has come very close to the T20 World Cup. In this World Cup too, Kuldeep along with Varun Chakraborty will be the biggest weapon for Team India to take wickets in the middle overs. But if the same performance continues in the World Cup, India’s title may be in danger. The tournament is to start from 7th February and before that a 5-match T20 series is to be played against New Zealand. In such a situation, Kuldeep and the team management have time to improve the situation. Whether this will happen will be known in the next few days.