Ryan ten Doeschate, India’s assistant coach, was not alarmed by Kuldeep Yadav’s momentary loss of magic, but he did warn the left-arm wrist spinner to reinvent himself in order to stay ahead of the growing competition. Maybe it was an attempt to rekindle his spirit of competition.
Since January 2025, Kuldeep has taken 22 wickets in 15 ODIs. During the same period, he has taken 22 wickets in 14 T20Is.
The 31-year-old had a poor IPL 2026 season for the Delhi Capitals, taking just 10 wickets, and was completely out-bowled by Manav Suthar and Washington Sundar in the one Test match against Afghanistan. Overall, those are not horrible figures, but sports always have a recency bias. He lost a spot in India’s T20I team, which will go to Ireland and England later this month, as a result of his unimpressive IPL performance.
“Look, the wickets aren’t always there and I thought he bowled really well the other night. As someone who hasn’t played a continuous string of games for a while, even in Test matches, he hasn’t always played. No real concerns about him,” PTI quoted Ten Doeschate as saying on Friday.
After spending time in the dugout during the first match at Dharamsala, Kuldeep was unable to take any wickets in the second ODI at Lucknow. Ten Doeschate was prompted to emphasize how important it is for bowlers to continue developing.
“We always like to play a risk spinner or a mystery spinner. But certainly the way the game is evolving and the way guys go after the spin now, it’s the onus is back on the spinner to almost reinvent himself from time to time. Kuldeep as well as other spinners, especially having (spin coach) Sairaj (Bahutule) now to work with, they can work on a lot of tactical things and game planning and trying to come up with new ideas. I think Kuldeep is travelling nicely,” he added.
Ten Doeschate was also unaffected by the fact that a fresh group of spinners, including Suthar and Harsh Dubey, were racing through the manufacturing line. In fact, Kuldeep only participated in one game during the home T20 World Cup earlier this year; instead, the more adaptable Varun Chakravarthy and the constrictive Axar Patel were chosen.
Ten Doeschate was clear in his opinion that the wrist spinner cannot be assured a spot in the eleven despite the value he brings in, even though he was not particularly concerned about Kuldeep’s declining returns.
“I think the same as everyone else. You have to fight for your spot in the team and the team will always be picked on balance and role specificity. So, Kuldeep’s got that spot covered in terms of wrist spin.”
“We know where he bats in the team and sometimes you do want to go with an spin bowling all-rounder. If you look at the total impact on the game, playing on small grounds, playing in India where the white ball travels, that decision is often a tactical one.”
“It’s no slight on Kuldeep. There are a lot of players chasing his heels and I’ve got no doubt in his abilities. I’d say he’s more than a guy who waits on the wings in terms of quality performance. It’s our job to push him to make sure that he keeps getting better and keeping that kind of pace,” he added.
