BAN vs IND: Sunil Gavaskar Blasts Indian Management For Dropping Kuldeep Yadav From 2nd Test 

Sunil Gavaskar lambasted Indian management for dropping left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who was adjudged Player of the Match for picking eight wickets in the opening Test in Chattogram.  

Not just this, he had also contributed with the bat, scoring an all-important 40 runs in the lower order as India reached a strong total of 404 in the first innings of the opening Test. 

However, despite giving a match-winning performance, he was dropped from the playing XI. India stand-in captain KL Rahul confirmed the development during the toss and called it unfortunate to leave out Kuldeep Yadav.

“We made one change – Kuldeep Yadav misses out and Jaydev Unadkat comes in. Unfortunate decision for us to leave him (Kuldeep) out but it’s an opportunity for Unadkat.”

Jaydev Unadkat, who returned to the playing XI after a 12-year hiatus has been given the chance in place of Kuldeep Yadav. This decision left the entire cricket fraternity baffled, including Sunil Gavaskar.

Speaking to Sony Sports Network, Gavaskar said:

“To drop a Man of the Match is absolutely unbelievable…and unbelievable is a very gentle word. I want to use more harsh words. You drop a player who picked eight out of 20 wickets in the last game and have two other spinners. One of those two should have been dropped and he should have played no matter what.” 

Kuldeep Yadav made a comeback to the Indian Test team for the first time since March 2021. He had registered brilliant figures of 5/40 and 3/73 across the two innings of the first Test. 

Earlier, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and opted to bat first in Dhaka. They brought two changes to their playing XI, with batter Mominul Haque and fast bowler Taskin Ahmed replacing Yasir Ali and Ebadot Hossain.