Kuldeep is yet to play a match in the ongoing New Zealand T20I series.
Former Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu strongly criticised India’s team selection after the fourth T20I against New Zealand in Auckland. He argued that leaving out left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav was a massive tactical error given the ground's unique dimensions.
During the match, New Zealand capitalised on visitors' bowling composition to post a monumental 259/7, the highest total India have ever conceded in T20I history. The Men in Blue subsequently lost the match by 87 runs.
Speaking on Cricbuzz during the mid-innings break, Rayudu pointed out a tactical flaw in India's bowling strategy, explaining that the flatter, faster trajectories of Axar Patel and Naman Dhir inadvertently played into the hands of the Kiwi batters at Eden Park, which has extremely short straight boundaries but comparatively longer square boundaries.
Rayudu claimed that Kuldeep could have slowed the pace down as flighting the ball would have forced the New Zealand power-hitters to target the much longer square boundaries, increasing the likelihood of mistimed shots and wickets.
"Axar Patel and Naman Dhir bowl fast. But when you want batters to hit to the square boundaries because of the short straight boundary, you have to slow it up. That is where India could have used Kuldeep in this game to slow things up and force the batters to hit to the longer square boundaries," Rayudu said.
"The Indian bowlers rely on fuller deliveries. So when your strength is bowling full, and the boundary size is small, you know if you miss, it's going to go big. The strengths of Arshdeep, Prince and Nitish are bowling full. And on this ground, that has been reflected in the final score," he added.
On the same show, former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik highlighted a critical tactical error in Mayank Yadav's bowling strategy, pointing out that the young speedster abandoned his primary weapon—high-pace hard lengths—in favor of unnatural yorkers during the final over.
Mayank, who conceded 28 runs and picked up two crucial wickets in his first three overs, leaked 20 runs in the final over to return with the figures of 3/48 in his four overs.
"For Mayank Yadav, extra bounce works because of his high pace. His strength is bowling hard lengths. Yorkers are not natural to him, though he tries. In the last over, where he went for runs, that is what he was doing, bowling a lot more yorkers," Karthik remarked.
Despite the defeat, India have an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series. The fifth and final T20I will be played in Hamilton on Sunday (November 1).