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Indian cricket team might have started well against England in the third Test match between the sides, but once again Virat Kohli's playing XI has perplexed the fans. The question remains the same - Why is Kuldeep Yadav missing from the squad? And while the demand is not unreasonable, the Indian skipper has his own reasons for dropping the wrist spinner.
Kohli explains why he dropped Kuldeep Yadav
Apparently, it is all-rounder Washington Sundar who is a part of the squad in place of the chinaman. Explaining the reason behind his decision, Kohli stated that Sundar has an edge over Kuldeep as the former can bat better.
"Bumrah comes in for Siraj and Washington Sundar comes in for Kuldeep Yadav. We wanted to have a spinning option and Washi provides a lot with the bat as well. And having a cushion with the bat helps especially in this situation when we bat second as the game could be evened out after the first innings," said Kohli at the toss in the third Test.
Notably, the impact of the decision has fared well for the hosts till now. Indian bowling unit successfully bundled the visitors' innings at 112 as Axar Patel scalped 6 wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin also bagged 3 wickets, while pacer Ishant Sharma made his 100th Test match to remember with a wicket as well. It is to note that Kuldeep's replacement Sundar didn't bowl single over throught the first innings as Axar and Ashwin were well enough. However, it will be interesting to see how things turn out later in the day-night affair between the sides.
On another note, Kuldeep Yadav is certainly missing out on games, but the explained reasons sum up the conditions well.