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Cricket Players'It was astonishing': Harbhajan Singh 'completely baffled' at major omission from India's XI against England
"I am completely baffled by his exclusion," said the veteran off-spinner.
Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is surprised with India's decision to leave out wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav from their Playing XI for the first Test against England in Chennai. Kuldeep, who has been with the squad since the tour of Australia, last played a Test match for India in January of 2019.
With Ravindra Jadeja injured and Washington Sundar only one Test match old, Kuldeep was expected to be one of three spinners to play for India, but the team selection pretty much came as surprise for all, especially Harbhajan, as left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem got the nod ahead of Kuldeep.
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"It was astonishing for me to see Kuldeep Yadav not get a chance in Team India's playing XI despite him being in the squad. I can understand that since Axar Patel is injured, Shahbaz Nadeem came in as a like-for-like replacement. But it doesn't make sense to play two off-spinners in Chennai," Harbhajan told Sports Tak.
Kuldeep has been warming the bench for a while. While his appearance in limited-overs cricket for India have been limited, it has been over two years since the chinaman bowler featured in a Test match. Kuldeep's omission becomes all the more surprising given he picked up a five-wicket-haul in his last Test appearance – in Sydney against Australia.
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Furthermore, Harbhajan pointed out that having a left-arm wrist-spinner could have added a different dimension to India's attack and mentioned that such a treatment could be extremely hazardous for a player's confidence.
"Kuldeep Yadav's presence would have added a bit of variety to this Indian bowling attack. In the last two Tests that Kuldeep Yadav played, he had picked up five-wicket hauls. So I am completely baffled by his exclusion," Harbhajan asserted.
"This is also not a great sign for his confidence because it demoralizes you even further when you are a part of the squad but still can't make it to the playing XI."
