Kuldeep Yadav Out Of Champions Trophy Final? Rohit Has 3 Reasons To Drop Star Spinner

Why Kuldeep should be dropped [Source: AP Photo]

The wait is almost over as India will collide with New Zealand in the grand finale of the Champions Trophy 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. This will be the second time that the two teams will cross path in the tournament, with the first one being in the group stage.

India won that contest rather easily, but the Kiwis are entering the finals on the back of a one-sided win against South Africa in the semis. Heading into the finals, India have one major headache and that is Kuldeep Yadav. The spinner has been woefully out of form and here are 3 reasons why he should be dropped for the final.

1) Poor performance in ongoing CT

Kuldeep Yadav has been below average in the ongoing Champions Trophy match and the stats tell the entire story. In 4 matches, he has only picked up 5 wickets and has hardly been effective on pitches which have been spinner friendly.

Plus, he averages 36.60 and has a strike-rate of 43 which clearly states that the spinner is out of form and has been sidelined by the wily Varun Chakravarthy. He took 3 wickets against Pakistan, but out of the three, two were taken off the tail-enders, showing his inability to take wickets of the top-order players.

2) Has zero wickets in knockout matches

Knockout stats since 2023 World Cup 2023

In the last three knockout matches, Kuldeep has not even taken a single wicket. The chain started in the 2023 World Cup finals when Travis Head took him to the cleaners as Australia clinched the title.

In the 2024 T20 World Cup finals, he conceded at almost 11 runs per over as South Africa made a mockery of his bowling and again, in the Champions Trophy semis, Australian batters played him with utmost ease. In big matches he has hardly taken any wickets and this could cost India in the finale Vs New Zealand.

3) Final likely to have fresh pitch, assisting the pacers

As per reports, the finale will have a fresh pitch for both the teams, meaning that pacers will have something in it for them. India already have 3 quality spinners in Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy, and there is no need to have a fourth spinner.

Instead, they can bring back Harshit Rana who can extract some bounce from the surface to trouble the Kiwi batters.

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