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Kuldeep Yadav has 172 wickets to his name in 106 ODIs played so far. He will lead India’s spin attack in the Champions Trophy 2025.
Kuldeep Yadav has 172 wickets to his name in 106 ODIs played so far. (Picture Credit: PTI)
Former Indian men’s cricket team batting coach Sanjay Bangar is happy with Kuldeep Yadav’s inclusion in India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad, which was announced by chief selector Ajit Agarkar on Saturday, January 18. Kuldeep, who has accounted for the dismissal of 172 batters in 106 ODI matches played so far, was last seen in action for India in October 2024 during a Test match played against New Zealand at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The Kanpur-based cricketer has not played any competitive match since then due to a groin injury for which he underwent surgery as well in Germany last year.
There were question marks over Kuldeep’s fitness, but the 30-year-old spinner is all set to be fit in time for the Champions Trophy matches, which will be played from February 19 to March 9. The spin bowler was also included in India’s squad for the three-match ODI series at home against England, which starts on February 6 in Nagpur.
Speaking about Kuldeep’s inclusion in India’s squad, Bangar, during a Star Sports show, said, “(Kuldeep is) one of the successful bowlers in this format internationally even not only talking of India. The reason why India continues to pick up 10 wickets of the opponents, and more so the number of wickets that India picks up in the middle overs, is because of the craft of Kuldeep Yadav. If you have to win 50-over games, those 50-over games are not only won at the start but towards the end. But most of them are in the middle phase of the game, and that’s where Kuldeep Yadav is as valuable as a Jasprit Bumrah or a Hardik Pandya.”
Kuldeep is the only specialist spinner picked in India’s 15-member squad for the home series against England as well as the Champions Trophy. The selectors have included three pacers—Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Arshdeep Singh—and three spin-bowling all-rounders—Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel—for the ICC tournament, which India last won in 2013.
In the last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, which was played in June 2017 in England, India suffered a humiliating defeat by 180 runs against Pakistan in the final played at The Oval on June 18.
