India walked out at Lord’s on July 19 without Jasprit Bumrah and without Washington Sundar, and still left Kuldeep Yadav in the dressing room. England scored 387 for 3. India fell 27 runs short. Kuldeep had now sat out all three ODIs in England.
Former India batter Mohammad Kaif, who had already given Gambhir a 4 out of 10 rating as India’s head coach, responded immediately on X.
“Kuldeep Yadav should be thinking of packing his bags and saying goodbye to international cricket. today there was no Bumrah, no Washington, no Varun but Kuldeep still didn’t find a place in 11. India’s bowling attack at Lord’s is one dimensional and lacks variety. A left-arm wrist spinner would have come handy.”
Mohammad Kaif, X, July 19, 2026
Kaif also pointed to Kuldeep’s 194 ODI wickets and added: “It seems these numbers don’t matter.”
Kuldeep Yadav should be thinking of packing his bags and saying goodbye to international cricket. Today there was no Bumrah, no Washington, no Varun but Kuldeep still didn’t find a place in 11. India’s bowling attack at Lord’s is one dimensional and lacks variety. A left-arm…
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) July 19, 2026
India brought three spinners to England for the ODI series — Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Kuldeep Yadav. Washington started the first two ODIs before a hamstring injury ended his series. Kuldeep did not play a single ball across all three matches.
Ravichandran Ashwin went a step further on the same day. He named the exact argument the management has used to keep Kuldeep out, and showed why it had no ground to stand on at Lord’s.
“The only defense for not playing Kuldeep usually is that the batting finishes at number 7, wonder how it feels to have Arshdeep at number 8 today! Adding Bumrah’s absence to that, one can only feel bad for Kuldeep. Trust me, this can affect the rhythm and confidence of a bowler.”
Ravichandran Ashwin, X, July 19, 2026
The only defense for not playing Kuldeep usually is that the batting finishes at number 7, wonder how it feels to have Arshdeep at number 8 today!
Adding Bumrah’s absence to that, one can only feel bad for Kuldeep.
Trust me, this can affect the rythm and confidence of a…
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) July 19, 2026
Ashwin’s Lord’s reaction marks a harder position than his earlier take on Kuldeep’s selection during the series.
The standard case for keeping Kuldeep out is that Axar and Washington bat, and Kuldeep does not. Playing a specialist spinner shortens the tail. With Bumrah ruled out and Arshdeep Singh coming in as replacement, Arshdeep was batting at number 8. The extra batting Arshdeep provides over Kuldeep is minimal. The batting-depth argument had already collapsed before the toss.
Axar finished without a wicket. India’s pacers conceded 90 runs in the last six overs. England won by 27 runs and sealed the series 2-1.
How India Explained the Decision
Captain Shubman Gill addressed the selection in the post-match press conference.
“The wickets didn’t offer much to the spinners in the first two ODIs of the series. Whenever spinners were given the ball, we were in defensive mode. When the pacers were on, it looked like something would happen. That was the reason why we didn’t play an extra spinner at Lord’s.”
Shubman Gill, post-match press conference, Lord’s, July 19, 2026
Gill added that the pitch got slower as the innings progressed. “We didn’t think that the wicket would get slow in the first innings when Axar bhai was bowling,” he said.
On the surface, this reads as a tactical explanation. What it actually describes is the difference between a containing spinner and a wicket-taking one, a distinction the management appears to have missed entirely.
Insider Read:
India’s management has spent the better part of two years building batting depth into the ODI lineup. The thinking is understandable. But in chasing batting security at 7 and 8, they walked away from something more valuable: a bowler who takes wickets in the middle overs.
Wickets win matches. Batting at number 7 and 8 does not take wickets.
Gill said India were in defensive mode whenever their spinner bowled. That is a description of left-arm orthodox spin, not wrist spin. These are not two versions of the same role. Axar holds an end and concedes quietly. Kuldeep takes wickets. His googly, his variation off the wrist, his ability to beat a set batsman who thinks he has read the hand after three overs. These are things Axar does not offer. A batting side does not settle into defensive mode against a wrist spinner. The doubt is on their side, not India’s. What Gill described as a reason to leave Kuldeep out was precisely the reason to put him in.
On the exact same pitch, in the exact same conditions, England played Adil Rashid. A wrist spinner. He took a wicket and applied the kind of pressure in the middle overs that a containing spinner cannot replicate. Sam Curran varied his pace, used slower deliveries, and finished with four wickets for 75 runs. England gave their attack variety. India played four pacers and one holding spinner, and Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell added 192 runs for the opening wicket before India took a single wicket.
Then Gill said the pitch got slower, and described it as something the team did not anticipate. Any cricketer who has played at Lord’s in July understands that a surface slowing in the second session is part of the ground’s character, not a surprise. You plan for it. A wrist spinner who generates turn and bounce is better placed on that slowing surface than a seamer who loses his primary weapon as the pitch dies under him. The pitch getting slower was a reason to play Kuldeep. The management used it as a reason to explain why he was not there.
This selection philosophy has been in place since the current management took charge. During the T20 World Cup 2026, Kuldeep played one game. He was not selected in the T20I squads for Ireland or England. In the home ODI series against Afghanistan, he played one match and returned 0 for 42 in Lucknow. He travelled to England for the ODI series and sat out all three matches. Under Rahul Dravid, Kuldeep took 49 ODI wickets in 2023 alone at an average of 20.4 and was India’s primary wicket-taker in the 50-over format. The philosophy has shifted, and the numbers that once guaranteed his selection appear to no longer be part of the calculation.
With the ODI World Cup 2027 on the horizon, the cost of consistent non-selection goes beyond confidence. A bowler who has not played in 18 months does not walk into a World Cup in rhythm. The management’s preference for batting depth may be building a squad that arrives at the next World Cup without its best match-winning spinner in any kind of form.
Kuldeep Yadav has not made a public statement on his exclusion from the England series. Gautam Gambhir has not issued a public statement on the selection decision.
Sources:
- Mohammad Kaif, X, July 19, 2026
- Ravichandran Ashwin, X, July 19, 2026
- Shubman Gill post-match press conference, July 20, 2026 Crictoday
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