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IND vs AUS ODIs: Gautam Gambhir faces Kuldeep Yadav query for remaining two matches?
Since Gautam Gambhir is known to pick multi-talented players to feature in his team, it becomes difficult to play Kuldeep Yadav- who is a specialist bowler.
Last Updated on - October 20, 2025 11:25 PM IST
India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir has always been firm in his cricketing beliefs, and picking multi-skilled players to shore up the batting till number eight is primary among them. So it becomes doubly difficult for Kuldeep Yadav to fit in the scheme of things as he considers himself to be a specialist bowler.
Only three 50-over games in Australia isn’t big enough sample size to reach a definitive conclusion on whether Gautam Gambhir’s punt of playing three all-rounders is the way to go forward on those tracks, which offer both bounce and seam movement.
Since India scored only 136 in a game rain- interrupted match, it would also be unfair to judge the bowling unit who had very little runs to defend. But if the team sends three all-rounders in Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar and two specialist finger-spinners, it becomes virtually impossible to fit in Kuldeep Yadav.
There is every possibility that India might go into the second ODI in Adelaide on Thursday (October 23) with an unchanged XI but there will remain a question mark whether that is the best combination for the visitors. This pattern of making Kuldeep Yadav the disposable guy isn’t something that is only prevalent in the Gambhir era. It has happened when Ravi Shastri has been the head coach and repeated when Rahul Dravid was in charge.