When Indian captain Shubman Gill came for the toss on Sunday (23 August) at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) ground in Colombo, it was already clear that Kuldeep Yadav was not playing. Off-spin all-rounder Saransh Jain was handed the debut cap about 15 minutes before the toss. Kuldeep bowled 25 overs in the first Test played against Sri Lanka in Galle but he was able to take only 1 wicket.

Kuldeep's economy was above 4. He never looked in form on the spin-friendly Galle pitch, leading to speculations that he would not play in Colombo. Same thing happened. Kuldeep's name was not in the team sheet for the Colombo Test. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) tweeted that Kuldeep could not fully recover from viral fever. In such a situation, he was not available for selection.

Kuldeep did not get support from the team management

BCCI called Kuldeep ill but there was already speculation that Saransh Jain is set to debut in his place in the Colombo Test. Before the match, Team India's head coach Gautam Gambhir and spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule had supported Kuldeep, but his name not being in the playing XI indicates something else. Kuldeep was not played a single test during the England tour last year. He spent the entire 5 test match series on the bench.

After the retirement of veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, there was a demand to include Kuldeep in the direct playing XI but the team management did not express confidence in him. Washington Sundar got a chance in place of Kuldeep. Kuldeep was sacrificed to bring depth to the batting. Now after his exclusion from the second Test against Sri Lanka, questions are being raised again whether he was not lured into batting a little? Like Washington, Saransh is a useful left-handed batsman with off-spin.

How was Kuldeep's performance under Ashwin?

Kuldeep made his Test debut against Australia in 2017. He did not get consistent opportunities with Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the team. He played only 8 tests till 2022. In 2024, he got to play 4 matches in the 5-match home Test series against England. In October the same year, Kuldeep was played in the opening match of the 3-match home Test series against New Zealand.

After this he was made to sit outside. Then he could not be taken to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy due to a groin injury. It was during this Australia tour that Ashwin announced his retirement. While being in Ashwin's team, Kuldeep played 13 Test matches in almost 8 years, in which he took 56 wickets at an excellent average of 22.16. During this period he achieved 5 wicket haul 4 times.

How are Kuldeep's figures now?

After Ashwin's retirement, Kuldeep was expected to get continuous opportunities but he has been able to play only 6 Test matches. In these 6 matches, Kuldeep has taken 24 wickets at an average of 26.16 and he has taken 5 wickets once. There has been a slight decline in his performance but it is also worth noting that even after Ashwin's retirement, he has not been played consistently so that he can cement his place in the team.

Forget Test, now Kuldeep is being ignored even in white ball cricket. Even in the recent 3-match ODI series in England, he was not included in the playing XI. Before this, he was played only one match in the home ODI series against Afghanistan. He was also fielded in the same match during the T20 World Cup 2026.