Former Indian batter Robin Uthappa has questioned lack of game time for Kuldeep Yadav amid the three-match ODI series against South Africa. Yadav returned with impressive figures of 4-68 in his quota of 10 overs in the opening game against the Proteas at Ranchi on Sunday.
The wrist spinner accounted for Marco Jansen and Matthew Breetzke in the same over to put India in front. Meanwhile, Uthappa highlighted that Kuldeep made his Test debut in 2017 but he has hardly played consistently in the red-ball format. The wrist spinner has played only 17 Test matches.
Kuldeep scalped eight wickets in two Test matches against South Africa at an average of 28.63. Similarly, Uthappa questioned Washington Sundar’s experience in first-class cricket. Sundar could only take a solitary wicket in two Test matches against the Proteas at an average of 128.
“Washi bowled just 500 overs before he came in as a bowler, compared to Ashwin who bowled 2500 overs before he played Test cricket consistently. Giving the bowlers the time in the middle for them to become more of their own and becoming more result-producing athletes is important. Even with Kuldeep. He has been playing from 2017, but how much cricket has he actually played? Since 2019 to 2023-24, he almost barely played any Test cricket. He was just touring with the side,” Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.
Uthappa observed that Yadav’s body is not used to bowling 40 overs in a Test match.
“People say Kuldeep is not that effective in the second innings. It is because he is not used to playing Test cricket. His body is not used to sustaining bowling 40 overs in a Test match. You give him a year doing this, his body gets conditioned to it, you will see him bowl with the same effectiveness. It is about time spending here,” he added.
On the other hand, Uthappa showered praise on Virat Kohli for scoring a fine knock of 135 runs off 120 balls in the opening ODI at Ranchi.
“His template is so clear. It’s cut and dry. He knows how to pace it, and he has added the whole partnership thing into his template, which just makes him seem so much more dangerous,” he said.
The second ODI between India and South Africa will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur on Wednesday.
