IND vs BAN 2nd Test: ‘Want to use stronger word but dropping Kuldeep Yadav is unbelievable,’ says Sunil Gavaskar

Spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s surprise exclusion from the playing XI in the second Test against Bangladesh drew strong criticism from the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, who has termed the axe after a stellar show in the series opener as ‘‘unbelievable’’.

The 28-year-old left-arm wrist spinner had career-best figures of 5/40 in the first innings in the opening Test at Chattogram. He backed it up with three wickets in the second innings for career-best match figures of 8/113 as India defeated Bangladesh by 188 runs.

A look at our Playing XI for the 2nd Test.

One change for #TeamIndia. Jaydev Unadkat comes in XI.

Live - https://t.co/XZOGpedIqj #BANvIND pic.twitter.com/ampkK88yX2

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 22, 2022

However, he was replaced by Saurashtra seam bowler Jaydev Unadkat in the second Test, which got underway at Mirpur on Thursday, making Gavaskar, former Test bowler Dodda Ganesh and former women’s captain Anjum Chopra wonder why the team management had taken such a decision.

‘‘Dropping a Man of the Match, that is unbelievable. That’s the only word I can use and it’s a gentle word. I would like to use quite stronger words, but it’s unbelievable that you left out a ‘man of the match’, who got eight out of the 20 wickets,’’ Gavaskar said while commentating on Sony Sports Network, the broadcasters of the series.

‘‘You have got two other spinners (Axar Patel and R. Ashwin). So surely, one of the other spinners could have been dropped. But this guy, who took eight wickets should have played today with due respect to what the pitch looks like,’’ Gavaskar said, countering skipper KL Rahul’s argument that the 22-yard strip looked ‘‘confusing’’.

Ganesh wondered why such treatment was being meted out to Kuldeep. ‘‘Why does this happen so often to Kuldeep Yadav? You can’t be doing this to him again and again. Please someone put an arm around his shoulder and tell him not to lose heart. Yes. It’s tough being Kuldeep Yadav. Spare a thought for him,’’ said Ganesh, who played four Tests, on social media.

‘‘Also the way the Bangladeshis struggled to pick him in the last Test makes this decision to leave him out today even more senseless and defies cricketing logic. You want your match-winner to warm the benches?’’ he questioned.

‘‘I guess the think tank needs to be a bit more considerate while dealing with the youngsters who’ve done well, and tinker with the team combo accordingly. Last time they dropped Karun (Nair) after his 303 not out to play an extra seamer at Hyderabad. And now this, with Kuldeep Yadav. Shocking. Ridiculous,’’ he added.

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