Ravichandran Ashwin has said that Gautam Gambhir’s team management has not backed Kuldeep Yadav enough and urged India to play the left-arm wrist spinner as their frontline bowler in the lead-up to the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Ashwin made the remarks on his YouTube channel ‘Ash Ki Baat’ after India’s six-wicket win over England in the first ODI at Edgbaston on July 14. India picked Axar Patel and Washington Sundar, both finger-spin bowling all-rounders, ahead of Kuldeep in the playing XI. Axar went on to take four wickets and score an unbeaten 57 to win Player of the Match.
“This management hasn’t backed Kuldeep enough. They should back him more because he is a match-winner. If he has to get into the 2027 World Cup with the right mindset, they should keep giving him chances. He should be given a lot more confidence. I would love for India to play Kuldeep Yadav as the frontline spinner.”
– Ravichandran Ashwin, ‘Ash Ki Baat’, July 15, 2026
This is not the first time Ashwin has questioned Gambhir’s handling of a player. He previously criticised the team management’s communication with Sanju Samson when the wicketkeeper-batter was dropped during the Zimbabwe series, similar to that situation. The pattern shows a former player concerned about how this coaching staff manages squad members who are not automatic starters.
The difference between the current management and the previous one is stark. Under Rahul Dravid as head coach and Rohit Sharma as captain, Kuldeep was a regular across formats. He played 6 Tests, 38 ODIs and 17 T20Is between 2021 and 2024, delivering several match-winning performances. That trust helped him become one of India’s most effective bowlers in the middle overs.
Since Gambhir took over, Kuldeep has been in and out of the team. The coach has favoured a team balance Vikrant Gupta analysed in detail, built around all-rounders who can add 20 to 30 runs with the bat. This has pushed Kuldeep out of the XI in limited-overs cricket, with the management preferring finger-spinners who can bat.
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What the stats and headlines do not show is what happens inside a wrist-spinner’s mind when the selection is this inconsistent. A wrist-spinner’s game is built on confidence in a way that a finger-spinner’s is not. When a finger-spinner like Axar Patel or Washington Sundar knows he will play every match regardless of batting contribution, he bowls with freedom. He can go for runs knowing he will get the next game to make up for it.
A wrist-spinner like Kuldeep does not get that luxury. Every match becomes an audition. One expensive spell and he knows he might sit out the next three games. That changes how you bowl. You start defending instead of attacking. You bowl safe lengths instead of wicket-taking ones. The loop is real. The less you play, the more you try to bowl safe, and the less effective you become.
This is the problem with Gambhir’s selection philosophy in ODIs. You cannot carry two finger-spin all-rounders and have a wrist-spinner on the bench waiting for an injury to get a game. Ashwin made this exact point when he said both finger-spinning all-rounders will not fit into the combination for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.
“In this Indian team, I will say this again. Both finger-spinning all-rounders will not fit into the combination for the 2027 World Cup. Whenever Kuldeep’s place is made, and Harshit Rana is fit and firing, Harshit Rana becomes the third seamer. Then it opens up a slot for Kuldeep.”
– Ravichandran Ashwin, ‘Ash Ki Baat’, July 15, 2026
Ashwin also expressed concern about India’s all-rounder depth beyond the first-choice options. With Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana all unavailable due to injuries, India has been testing Shivam Dube as a seam-bowling all-rounder. Ashwin warned that Dube should only be considered as a last-choice option for the 50-over format.
Kuldeep’s IPL 2026 season did not help his cause. He took only 10 wickets at an economy rate of 10.30, his most expensive IPL season. But Ashwin’s point is about what comes next, not what happened in the IPL. The 2027 World Cup is less than 18 months away, and India needs to decide whether Kuldeep is their frontline spinner or not. Keeping him on the bench and picking him only when conditions suit creates the exact uncertainty that hurts a wrist-spinner’s game.
Ashwin made these remarks on his verified YouTube channel ‘Ash Ki Baat’ on July 15. Neither Gambhir, Gill nor Kuldeep have made a public response at the time of publication.
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