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Former India speedster Dodda Ganesh took a sly dig at the Indian think tank, including head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma for including spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the XI for the second ODI against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.
After Yuzvendra Chahal suffered an injury and wasn't available for selection, Kuldeep Yadav made his return to the Indian XI and eventually made a huge impact on the game.
The chinaman bowler was at his best during the match, extracting spin, bounce, and dip from the pitch, and eventually finished with figures of 3/51. He was subsequently named the Man of the Match after India secured a 4-wicket triumph to accomplish a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
As the left-arm wrist spinner wowed fans and former cricketers with his performance in Kolkata, ex-India fast bowler Dodda Ganesh too hailed his display in the series decider.
After watching Kuldeep Yadav's magical performance in Kolkata, Dodda Ganesh took a cheeky dig at the Indian team management of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid.
“Kuldeep, enough man. Don’t pick so many wickets. With 3 wkts already the odds of u being dropped for the next match are really high #DoddaMathu #CricketTwitter #INDvSL,” the former Indian cricketer tweeted.
His sarcastic words for Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma came after Kuldeep Yadav was dropped from the second Test against Bangladesh last month.
Interestingly, Kuldeep Yadav was the Man of the Match in the previous Test, having accomplished a five-wicket haul in the first essay before sending three more Bangladesh batters back to the pavilion in the next innings. Moreover, Kuldeep Yadav contributed with the bat as well, scoring a vital 40 runs in India’s first innings.
Some even claimed it was Rahul Dravid’s ‘dirty mind’ that decided to exclude spinner Kuldeep Yadav from the playing XI in Mirpur because such a move could only be backed by a mindless person and not by someone who has played 164 Tests and 344 ODIs.
While others demanded his removal as the coach of the Indian cricket team because he had no clue whatsoever about the side’s composition.
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Another set of his critics compared him to Australia’s Greg Chappell who was the coach of the Indian cricket team during the 2000s.
Greg Chappell’s era is regarded as a dark period in the history of Indian cricket and his arrival led to a huge rift between him and then captain Sourav Ganguly which eventually resulted in the former’s removal as skipper before being ousted from the side altogether.
Dodda Ganesh termed the decision “shocking” and “ridiculous” at the time.
“Why does this happen so often to Kuldeep Yadav? You can’t be doing this to him again and again. Please some one put an arm around his shoulder and tell him not to lose heart. Yes. It’s tough being Kuldeep Yadav. Spare a thought for him,” Dodda Ganesh said on Twitter.
“Also the way the Bangladeshis struggled to pick him in the last Test makes this decision to leave him out today even more senseless and defies cricketing logic. You want your match-winner to warm the benches?” Dodda Ganesh questioned.
“I guess the think tank needs to be a bit more considerate while dealing with the youngsters who’ve done well; and tinker the team combo accordingly. Last time they dropped Karun (Nair) after his 303 not out to play an extra seamer at Hyderabad. And now this, with Kuldeep Yadav. Shocking. Ridiculous,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav disclosed that he has made a lot of changes to his bowling in the past 12 months.
“My focus was to bowl good length,” Kuldeep Yadav told bcci.tv after India's victory. “I have played at Eden a lot and the pitch isn't great for spinners. Bowling good length meant I can avoid giving room. And from there use my variations – to turn it away or bowl the googly. I have also been bowling with an aggressive rhythm, and the variation in pace left the batters unsure on whether to play off the front foot or the back foot.”
“My mindset now has changed a lot. Earlier I thought I need to give good performance and take wickets. Now it is that I should bowl to my strengths and not bowl bad bowls. And as you know, wickets will definitely come if you're a wristspinner bowling in good areas,” he added.
“I also want to say thank you to Chahal,” Kuldeep Yadav said. “I walked into the team from a Test series, but you [Chahal] played the T20s and the last ODI. Your inputs on how to bowl helped, so thank you. Small inputs always help. It is unlucky we are not playing so much together these days on the field but your tips have helped me a lot.”
