Ravichandran Ashwin has accused India’s team management of lacking “common sense” after Kuldeep Yadav was left out of the playing XI for the fourth T20I against West Indies in Hyderabad, a 24-run defeat that levelled the five-match series at 2-2. Speaking on his YouTube channel Ash Ki Baat, the former India off-spinner said it was “very surprising” that Kuldeep Yadav had been omitted given that West Indies batters have struggled to pick his googly and leg-spin, estimating that his presence could have made a difference of 15 to 20 runs.
The left-arm wrist-spinner played the first two matches of the series — taking two for 33 in the opener in Lucknow and one for 53 in Ranchi — before being dropped for the third game in Indore, where pacer Prince Yadav was preferred. Captain Shreyas Iyer explained the exclusion by citing the need for a yorker-bowling option and the small, batting-friendly dimensions of the Holkar Stadium.
Ashwin said the Indore decision was one he could endorse. But the Hyderabad call, he argued, was far harder to justify. On a ground where he expected the surface to offer the spinners some bounce, he said India’s management had misread the match-up badly. West Indies, he noted, remain deeply uncomfortable against wrist-spin — and leaving Kuldeep Yadav, the attack’s most proven exponent of it, out against them, in his words, “lacks a bit of common sense”.
Kuldeep Yadav Omission Leaves India Exposed in Hyderabad
The evidence was on show at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Wednesday, where West Indies — sent in to bat after India won the toss and chose to bowl — amassed 247 for three in their 20 overs. Skipper Shai Hope hammered an unbeaten 102 off 50 balls, Sherfane Rutherford finished on 49 not out from 26 deliveries, Shimron Hetmyer blasted 33 off 12 and Rovman Powell chipped in with 24 from 17.
India’s reply never truly got going despite Sanju Samson’s rapid 56 at the top of the order. Keemo Paul produced a match-winning five for 41 — striking twice in the fifth over to remove Samson and Ishan Kishan — before Gudakesh Motie dismissed Abhishek Sharma and Naman Dhir in successive deliveries. India were bowled out for 223 in 19.3 overs, sealing West Indies’ first T20I win on Indian soil since 2019.
With Naman Dhir and Axar Patel deployed as the two spin-bowling all-rounders, India lacked a frontline wicket-taking wrist-spinner through the middle overs. Hope and Rutherford’s unbroken 91-run stand for the fourth wicket — the second-highest for that wicket for West Indies in T20Is — progressed without ever being seriously threatened by turn.
Why Kuldeep Yadav Deserved a Place, Says Ashwin
Ashwin’s argument rests on a formidable record. Kuldeep Yadav has claimed 20 wickets in 11 T20Is against West Indies at an average of 15.70 and an economy rate of 7.13, figures that mark him out as one of the Caribbean side’s most uncomfortable opponents. He was also India’s leading wicket-taker in the ODI series earlier this month, taking seven wickets as India sealed a 2-1 series win.
The 40-year-old was equally firm in rejecting any suggestion that Kuldeep Yadav’s expensive outing in Ranchi — one for 53 from four overs as India failed to defend 249 — justified his continued absence, calling it wrong to pin the defeat on Kuldeep Yadav. He added that he still endorsed the Indore omission, saying he understood the reasoning given the ground’s small dimensions.
In Ashwin’s view, the episode points to a deeper failure of selection logic. Against opponents with a documented weakness against his variations, India should have been maximising their advantage rather than persisting with an all-pace-heavy balance that left the middle overs exposed.
Bengaluru Decider Puts Kuldeep Yadav Selection Under the Microscope
The criticism leaves India’s management facing searching questions before the series decider in Bengaluru, with the momentum now firmly with the tourists. West Indies have already chased 250 successfully once in this series — their highest-ever T20I run chase — and their batting unit is in ominous touch.
Rotation has been a theme of India’s approach, with the team managing senior players’ workloads while blooding emerging talent. But consecutive defeats with Kuldeep Yadav watching from the dugout have intensified the scrutiny on the think tank’s calls at precisely the moment the series is on the line.
For Ashwin, the verdict was blunt: against this opposition, on this surface, omitting a bowler of Kuldeep Yadav’s pedigree was not a marginal judgment call but a basic error. Whether the management shares that assessment will become clear when the XI for the decider is announced.