Team India recently faced a tough time under new T20I captain Shreyas Iyer on the tour of UK, losing the series 2-0 to Ireland and failing to win any of the four completed T20I against England. The Men in Blue also conceded the ODI series 1-2 to England under Shubman Gill’s leadership.
However, the reigning T20 world champions bounced back emphatically to pull off a 3-0 series against Zimbabwe in Harare.
While the performance in Zimbabwe was truly praiseworthy, India’s dismal show in the UK will be reviewed by the BCCI in the coming days.
Amid the news of review meeting, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has urged the BCCI to question the team management regarding Kuldeep Yadav’s exclusion.
While Kuldeep was not part of the T20I squad, the left-arm wrist-spinner warmed the bench during the entire ODI series against England.
Despite Jasprit Bumrah being sidelined with a knee injury and Washington Sundar ruled out due to a hamstring strain in the series-deciding third ODI at Lord’s, the team management left Kuldeep out of the playing XI.
"In the review meeting that will happen, the BCCI must raise the question behind the selection of this playing XI and ask the reason. They must ask why Kuldeep did not play when Bumrah, Sundar, Varun, all these guys were not there. England won due to Buttler's 40 at the end, and Kuldeep has gotten the better of him before. Kuldeep has bowled well in England too. They must ask the reason. You give the reason of batting depth. Fine. But in that game, your all-rounder at number eight was injured and out. Even then, Kuldeep did not play. It was completely beyond my understanding. You played all inexperienced bowlers," Kaif said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
According to Kaif, bowling is a major cause of concerns for India ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup. He advised the team to focus on real issues rather than talking about the futures of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
"The biggest issue is in the bowling. Rohit Sharma-Virat Kohli is not a concern. The biggest concern is the bowling in South Africa. Pitches are very different there. Batters will get out at times, and we will only score 250. But do we have the bowling to defend that? This is the biggest question. To win the World Cup, you need a balanced team. Not batting heavy and weak bowling. You will have to defend 250, and right now you don't have the team for that,” Kaif remarked, before questioning pacer Mohammed Siraj’s absence from the ODI squad.
“You are moving on, but there is no backup for Bumrah, no backup for Hardik. You don't have quality bowlers like Shami and Bhuvneshwar. I don't know why Siraj is also out when all the new guys are being backed," he added.
Mohammad Kaif also expressed concern regarding key players missing games due to fitness issues and injuries.
"If Bumrah is not there, you are exposed. The young bowlers will work around him. He pushes teams back, and those bowling with him benefit. But we are too far behind without him. Injury concern is a big thing for us that we don't even talk much about. We are only stuck at Rohit-Virat. The fielding and fitness are bigger issues. Gill has gone out so many times. The youngsters who are the future are breaking down. You need to work on the fitness seriously," Kaif stated.
"Harshit Rana came back and got injured again. Who is asking questions or asking reasons? The guy you want to send out is playing, but those who are coming in are getting injured. This is a big problem for Gill. He has a great team in the IPL. But the same thing has to be replicated here. Forget Rohit, focus on the bigger problems," he concluded.
