Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif questioned Kuldeep Yadav’s omission in the third ODI against England. Despite Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, Kuldeep could not find a place in the playing XI for the deciding game of the series.

Yadav was also not picked in the first two ODIs against England as the spin duo of Washington Sundar and Axar Patel were picked ahead of him. It is clear that the management is backing spin and seam-bowling all-rounders ahead of Yadav. Since July 2024, Kuldeep has featured in 38 games out of 103 matches across all formats for India.

India made three changes to their playing XI as KL Rahul, Prince Yadav and Arshdeep Singh were added to the team.

Kaif wrote on X, “Kuldeep Yadav should be thinking of packing his bags and saying goodbye to international cricket. Today there was no Bumrah, no Washington, no Varun but Kuldeep still didn’t find a place in 11. India’s bowling attack at Lord’s is one dimensional and lacks variety. A left-arm wrist spinner would have come handy. Remember he has 194 wickets in 118 ODIs. It seems these numbers don’t matter.”

Kuldeep has scalped 194 ODI wickets in 121 matches at an average of 27.05 and thus has an impressive record in the 50-over format. The UP spinner also has the skills to provide breakthroughs in the middle overs.

The wrist spinner took 10 wickets in 12 matches of IPL 2026 for Delhi Capitals and then played against Afghanistan.

On the other hand, former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin also questioned Yadav’s omission in the third ODI against England.

“The only defense for not playing Kuldeep usually is that the batting finishes at number 7, wonder how it feels to have Arshdeep at number 8 today! Adding Bumrah’s absence to that, one can only feel bad for Kuldeep. Trust me, this can affect the rythm and confidence of a bowler,” Ashwin posted on X.

England have posted an above-par score of 387 runs on the board in the final ODI.