Team India served another reminder to pick Kuldeep Yadav ahead of Asia Cup: 'His unique bowling style...'

The drama surrounding Kuldeep Yadav's non-selection was among the bigger talking points in India’s recent tour of England. And while the left-arm wrist spinner did not get to play a single game in the five-match Test series that ended in a 2-2 stalemate, former India bowler Madan Lal is hoping that captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir include him in their plans for the Asia Cup that gets underway on Tuesday.

Kuldeep had starred in India’s victorious campaigns in the last two ICC events – last year’s T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy earlier this year – and has been included as one of three key spin options along with leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy and all-rounder Axar Patel. And Lal, for one, feels that Kuldeep’s “unique bowling style” should warrant him a place in the XI in the upcoming continental event.

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“Kuldeep Yadav should be included in the team due to his unique bowling style, which is difficult to counter in T20 cricket, though the final decision depends on the wicket conditions and team combination. Two spinners and three pace bowlers should be included in Dubai,” Lal, one of the architects of India’s historic 1983 World Cup triumph, told news agency ANI.

‘India is a strong favourite due to their skilled team’

As for the title favourites, Lal went with the popular choice of India – given the Men in Blue’s dominant run in the shortest format over the last couple of years, with the team winning the T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean along the way.

This despite the recent controversy surrounding the exclusion of senior batter Shreyas Iyer as well as the unpredictability of the other teams in the tournament, including and especially Pakistan.

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“India is a strong favourite due to their skilled team. The unpredictability of the T20 format and the performances of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan — noting that Afghanistan is currently playing well.

“There is controversy over the team combination, particularly the exclusion of Shreyas Iyer, with selections often decided by selectors and coaches…

“Afghanistan is seen as a potential challenger to Pakistan, whose current performance and confidence levels are questioned. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are considered strong contenders,” Lal added.

The 2025 Asia Cup gets underway on Tuesday with Afghanistan taking on Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi and India squaring off against the United Arab Emirates on the following day.

The spotlight, however, will be on the sixth match of the tournament, in which India square off against arch-rivals Pakistan just four months after the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent armed conflict between the two nations.