Despite India’s failure in the first game against Australia, the Indians have opted to exclude expert spinner Kuldeep Yadav from the Indian Playing XI for the Second ODI at Adelaide. They have rather insisted on Harshit Rana’s extended stay in the XI.
The first ODI at Perth saw the Australian bowlers dominate India on a track not suitable for batting on; however, the Aussies batted with much ease, with not much threat posed in front of them by the bowlers from the Men in Blue. Indian youngster Harshit Rana played his first ODI game in Australia and had no impact on the game.
After the heavy loss first up, the Indians were pressured to bring some changes to their XI; the loudest of such claims was for the expert spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has been India’s finest in the white-ball formats in recent years.
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Kuldeep Yadav snubbed for the Second ODI again
India has gone into Adelaide unchanged, and Shubman Gill has once again lost the toss and has been pushed to bat first by Mitchell Marsh, the Australian skipper. However, Gill’s announcement of no change in the playing XI was what irritated the Indian fans the most.
Loud cheers were claiming the return of Kuldeep Yadav to the ODI playing XI, as several fans, as well as former cricketers, have claimed that a bowler of Kuldeep’s stature would be a no-brainer in any team, except for India under the new coach Gautam Gambhir.
Virat Kohli returns to his favourite Australian venue at the Adelaide Oval
The Indian legend has scored a pile of runs in Australia, with the best batting performance coming under the Adelaide stands.
“Why no Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI?” Fans tear through Gautam Gambhir after another Kuldeep Yadav snub
The obsession with batting depth is hurting India’s balance and their best bowler. Kuldeep Yadav would have been a no-brainer in any other ODI team, regardless of conditions. But with India, and with Gambhir’s current mindset, they’ll likely sacrifice him for an all-rounder who…
— CricIndeed (@CricIndeed) October 23, 2025
Unbelievable how we don’t play Kuldeep Yadav. Just unbelievable. And ridiculous. He’d be playing every match in every format for any other team. #AUSvIND #AUSvsIND #TeamIndia #Cricket
— ʎɥS ʎʎℲ 🍓 (@ShyFyy) October 23, 2025
First Ravindra Jadeja was dropped from the team, and now Kuldeep Yadav is being left out. Kuldeep is a match-winning bowler in ODI and a better bowler than Sundar and Axar in this format, yet he is not being played. I don’t understand their strategy.#INDvAUS #INDvsAUS #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/gNFOzGJsjp
— kuldeep singh (@kuldeep0745) October 23, 2025
Why no Kuldeep Yadav in playing XI? Can someone help me to understand this? pic.twitter.com/hw4fLvYYJe
— Wicket and Warrior (@WicketNWarrior) October 23, 2025
Imagine dropping Kuldeep Yadav for Harshit Rana or Reddy!
Gautam Ghambir ki ghambirita pic.twitter.com/foWJT0aMxp— Basit Subhani (@BasitSubhani) October 23, 2025
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