“It was an injustice to him” - Ex-Indian captain feels Kuldeep Yadav could’ve taken a fifer vs UAE

Former Indian captain and commentator Ajay Jadeja felt that Kuldeep Yadav could’ve taken a five-wicket haul against the United Arab Emirates if he had been given a consecutive spell instead of putting a break in between his overs.

For the unversed, Kuldeep Yadav scalped a match-winning four-wicket haul, conceding only seven runs in his 3.1 overs, turning the game upside down. While he was introduced in the seventh over, his second over came in the ninth over. However, he had to wait until the 14th over to get his third over, which didn’t go down well with Jadeja.

"Forget the syllabus, he is not even in the book. The four wickets he took, it was an injustice to him. Forget the five matches you didn't play him (in the Test series against England), I am talking light-heartedly, as people might take it seriously, when he had picked up two wickets in his first two overs, Shivam Dube was brought in to bowl, and he was removed, that he is fit (in the team)," Jadeja said on Sony Sports Network.

"Others were being tried. When he was brought back, he again picked up two wickets in two or three balls. If he had bowled four consecutive overs, he might have picked up six wickets instead of four," he added.

Furthermore, Jadeja felt that the UAE batters were completely clueless against Kuldeep, adding that the attacking spinner would play a crucial role against Pakistan on Sunday, September 14. However, it would be interesting to see how Arshdeep Singh would come into the XI.

"There is no doubt that he is a special player. The skill of left-arm wrist spin is extremely rare, and along with that, the thing he has in his hand. Earlier, the speed wasn't this much. Now, he is releasing the ball very well. So it was a matter of time," he said.

"It was very difficult for these batters to pick which way the ball would go. They were playing on hope as to where the ball would go. You see his class even against good players many times, and his role will be as important in the Pakistan match, and he might be effective there also, although it won't be as much as he was against the UAE," he concluded.

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