BAN vs IND, 2nd Test: 'Dropping a Man of the Match, that is unbelievable' - Gavaskar stunned by Kuldeep axe

Chinaman-spinner Kuldeep Yadav's surprise exclusion from the playing XI in the second Test against Bangladesh drew strong criticism from the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, who has termed the axe after a stellar show in the series opener as "unbelievable". The 28-year-old left-arm wrist spinner had career-best figures of 5/40 in the first innings in the opening Test in Chattogram. He backed it up with three wickets in the second innings for career-best match figures of 8/113 as India defeated Bangladesh by 188 runs. However, he was replaced by Saurashtra seam bowler Jaydev Unadkat in the second Test, which got underway at Mirpur on Thursday. It made Gavaskar, former Test bowler Dodda Ganesh and former women's captain Anjum Chopra wonder why the team management had taken such a decision.

"Dropping a Man of the Match is unbelievable. That's the only word I can use, and it's a gentle word. I want to use stronger words, but it's unbelievable that you left out a 'man of the match', who got eight out of the 20 wickets," Gavaskar said while commentating during the game.

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"You have two other spinners [Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin]. So surely, one of the other spinners could have been dropped. But, this guy, who took eight wickets, should have played today, with due respect to what the pitch looks like," Gavaskar said, countering skipper KL Rahul's argument that the 22-yard strip looked "confusing".

Ganesh wondered why such treatment was being meted out to Kuldeep. "Why does this happen so often to Kuldeep Yadav? You can't be doing this to him again and again. Please, someone put an arm around his shoulder and tell him not to lose his heart. Yes. It's tough being Kuldeep Yadav. Spare a thought for him," said Ganesh, who played four Tests, on social media.

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"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. Do you want your match-winner to warm the benches? The think tank needs to be more considerate while dealing with the youngsters who've done well and tinker with 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 added.

Kuldeep had also contributed with the bat in the match, scoring 40 runs in the first innings. He had been included in India's squad for the third One-day International (ODI) against Bangladesh after fast bowlers Kuldeep Sen and Deepak Chahar had been ruled out due to injuries. Former India women's team captain Chopra termed Kuldeep's exclusion "strange".

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"Man of the match in India's last Test victory just three days ago, Kuldeep Yadav makes way for Jaydev Unadkat as the third seamer for India. Strange, but a tactical change," wrote Anjum on social media. Anjum had also praised Kuldeep's batting in an earlier tweet after India had won the Test at Chattogram. "1,136 runs scored, and more could have been in the conditions here at Chattogram. Kuldeep Yadav to bag eight wickets in the match is very impressive," she corresponded.

(With inputs from PTI)