What happened to Kuldeep Yadav: KKR spinner returns to India; set to miss IPL 2021

Kuldeep Yadav: The 26-year old Indian spinner will take no further role in the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League.

Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Kuldeep Yadav is no more part of their bio-bubble for the ongoing second leg of the 14th season of the Indian Premier League in the UAE.

Yadav, 26, has suffered a knee injury and is expected to be out of action which is likely to include IPL 2021 and some part of the forthcoming Indian domestic and bumper international home season.

With the presence of Indian and overseas spin-bowling options namely Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Harbhajan Singh, Shakib Al Hasan and Pawan Negi, it remains to be seen if Knight Riders will name a replacement for Yadav for the remainder of IPL 2021 or not.

Injury could present a further setback for Kuldeep Yadav

There is no going into a safe house regarding the fact that Yadav had dropped down the pecking order for both KKR and India. A downfall which had started in IPL 2019, it has seen Yadav being devoid of opportunities across formats and teams.

The sudden emergence of an archetype mystery spinner in Chakravarthy has further affected the left-arm wrist-spinner’s spot. A regular in Knight Riders’ Playing XI in 2017-18, Yadav has picked just five wickets in 14 IPL matches (didn’t get an opportunity in IPL 2021) at an average of 75.60, an economy rate of 8.40 and a strike rate of 54 since the start of 2019.

Post the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Yadav has represented India in 14 ODIs, five T20Is and a Test picking a total of 22 wickets at an average and economy rate of 44.27 and 6.23 respectively.

It is on the back of these numbers that Yadav isn’t part of India’s 15-member squad (which comprises of five spin-bowling options) for the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 also scheduled to be played in the UAE from next month.