Kuldeep Yadav told to add another dimension to his game to become a regular in Tests: 'With all due respect to his…'

Former India batter Robin Uthappa has sent a clear message to Kuldeep Yadav with important advice about how he can position himself to feature more regularly in Test matches. Kuldeep travelled to England for a five-match Test series but didn't feature in a single match, which drew some flak. The left-arm spinner made his Test debut in 2017, but since then, he has played only 13 matches. He last played a red-ball match for India against New Zealand in 2024. Kuldeep Yadav didn't play a single Test on the England tour.(PTI)

Head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Shubman Gill faced some criticism for not including Kuldeep in any of the matches in England. However, the 2-2 series result ultimately helped justify the decision to go with Washington Sundar instead.

The team management decided to go with depth in the batting line-up in English conditions, and Sundar played the role well, scoring a century in Manchester and then a half-century at the Oval to help India draw the series. Sundar scored 284 runs at an average of 47.33. He didn't get much opportunity with the ball on pace-friendly tracks, but he managed to claim seven wickets in 74.1 overs he bowled.

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Uthappa also told Kuldeep to work on his batting skills to align with the current team management's plans, but he asserted it wouldn't be easy for him.

"Put Kuldeep in the 11 and make sure you're batting is still in a state where none of the fans will go after the team management or the captain. With all due respect to Kuldeep's prowess with the ball, he's got limitations to his batting. That's going to take a lot of effort from his side," he said on his YouTube channel.

The former batter further gave an example of legendary Ravichandran Ashwin, who used to be a regular in overseas conditions too. Ashwin had 6 Test centuries to his name and played some crucial knocks in testing times to rescue India.

"Ashwin has got 5-6 Test hundreds. If he can do that at the lower middle batting order, say at number eight or nine, then he will certainly play more Tests," he added.

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