In the absence of injured pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar being ruled out due to hamstring injury, Kuldeep was still overlooked for Sunday\u2019s ongoing ODI series decider at Lord\u2019s. It meant that India are playing four pacers and a lone spinner in left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Axar Patel, with no sixth bowling option in their line-up.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"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\u2019s absence to that, one can only feel bad for Kuldeep. Trust me, this can affect the rhythm and confidence of a bowler,\" Ashwin stated on his \u2018X\u2019 account on Sunday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Kuldeep has now sat out three of India's all ODIs in England after being rested from the T20I leg of the tour. Even during the preceding home ODI series against Afghanistan, Kuldeep featured in just one game, returning figures of 0-42 in Lucknow.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"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\u2019s absence to that, one can only feel bad for Kuldeep. Trust me, this can affect the rhythm and confidence of a bowler,\" Ashwin stated on his \u2018X\u2019 account on Sunday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The left-arm wrist-spinner has endured a tough run lately after having a challenging IPL 2026 campaign for Delhi Capitals. Post the tournament\u2019s end, Kuldeep made a switch to Lucknow Super Giants via a trade deal which saw Rishabh Pant moving back to Delhi Capitals. While Kuldeep boasts an incredibly impressive career record of 194 wickets in 121 ODIs, his continuous non-selection still leaves many people curious.<\/p>\r\n\r\n