India pacers were taken to cleaners by England batters in the third ODI at Lord's.
Kuldeep Yadav’s exclusion from the recent ODI series between England and India has led to former India batter S. Badrinath slamming the Indian team management. Particularly, Kuldeep’s exclusion from India XI for the third ODI at Lord’s on July 19 was highlighted by Badrinath.
Kuldeep, who was not picked in the Indian T20I squads for the Ireland and England series, warmed the bench throughout the England ODIs, despite India missing a string of bowlers and bowling all-rounders like Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, and Hardik Pandya.
India needed to win the third ODI at Lord’s to win the series, but the team management opted for four pacers in Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, and Gurnoor Brar and one spinner in Axar Patel. England made merry against India's pacers and made 387/3 in 50 overs.
"Kuldeep Yadav is India's highest wicket-taker in ODIs in the last five years with 87. Yet he doesn't have a place in the 11. He's a wrist spinner who's also a wicket-taker. Why is Kuldeep Yadav not playing? England has scored over 380, and you've got Kuldeep, who's the second biggest X-factor for India with the ball after Bumrah. There is something going on with selections. Some players are randomly selected while others aren't,” Badrinath stated on his YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, Kuldeep boasts excellent ODI numbers, with 194 wickets at an average of 27.04 and an economy of 5.07 in 121 outings.
Badrinath believes India's bowling is dreadfully lacking in pedigree in the absence of Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, as proven by their performance in the deciding ODI at Lord's. While an injured Hardik was out of the series, Bumrah played the first two games before missing the series finale due to a knee injury.
"The Indian bowling looked like an unlimited buffet in the final ODI. Whenever Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah don't play, the team really struggles. You can keep bringing Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana, but without Hardik and Bumrah, the bowling will never be good. It looks like an open buffet," said Badrinath.
Gurnoor Brar went for 97 runs in his 10 overs; Prince Yadav went for 79 runs, taking one wicket; and Arshdeep Singh gave away 72 runs. Prasidh Krishna gave away 69 runs, taking 2 wickets.
In response, despite 138 by Rohit Sharma and fifties by Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli, India only mustered 360/7 as the middle order faltered under the pressure of the huge chase, and India lost by 27 runs. India also lost the ODI series 1-2 to England, ending their tour of the UK with only one win from 10 games.