Kuldeep Yadav did not bowl in the second innings of the warm-up game against Sri Lanka Cricket XI as he wanted to assess his body after a heavy workload, India’s spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule said on Sunday, allaying concerns over the left-arm wrist-spinner’s fitness.

Kuldeep bowled 18 overs in the three-day game after also putting in two-three overs before the match, and Bahutule said the decision to rest him was purely precautionary.

“Kuldeep bowled almost 20 overs in the sense 18 in the match and about two-three overs before the game also. He had a very good outing and he just wanted to take a break in terms of just understanding how his body is at,” Bahutule said after the warm-up game here.

The other spinners — Ravindra Jadeja, Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain — were given extended outings as India used the game to assess their options ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.

“Manav bowled about 14-15 overs, Jaddu bowled about 14-15 overs. So, they got a very good outing, they understood how the pitch reacts and I think it was a great prep for them,” he said.

The pitch offered little assistance to the spinners initially but began to turn as the game progressed, providing valuable exposure to India’s slow bowlers.

“The bowlers had a great opportunity to go down and express themselves on a pitch which was slightly on a flatter side in the first day. But as the days went by, there was more turn on to it and definitely a good outing for the spinners,” Bahutule said.

India had fielded a strong squad for the warm-up game with the primary objective of adapting to local conditions, and Bahutule felt the players made the most of the opportunity.

“Most of the guys have come here, experienced guys, Jaddu has already played here. But the new guys like Manav and a few others, Saransh Jain, they need to just adapt to what will be the ideal lines, what will be the ideal lengths and obviously the field sets, which is very much important.”

India’s management was also satisfied with Shubman Gill’s recovery after he was hit on his right hand during a net session on Thursday.

Gill did not bat on the opening day as a precaution but returned to score useful runs later in the game, while also taking part in catching drills.

“It was just a precaution more than anything else. And he has been absolutely fine. He has been doing his training. And the management decided that we could just take that precaution of not putting him into that first day,” Bahutule said.

He also praised Gill’s meticulous preparation, saying the India captain was preparing specifically for the threat posed by Sri Lanka’s spinners.

“Shubman takes his preparation very seriously. And he is a very meticulous boy. And he understands that whatever is the demand for that particular series with the attack, which has been successful for the Sri Lankan team. His preparation is done accordingly,” he said.

He was responding to different scenarios in the nets, Bahutule added, explaining that the team was trying to replicate situations Gill could encounter during the Test series.

India also used the game to improve the batting of their lower-order players, with bowlers such as Gurnoor Brar getting opportunities with the bat.

“All the lower-order bowlers, who basically bat in lower order, their contribution will always be very useful to achieve a good total in the Test match. And that is the entire process. We are encouraging them to bat as much as possible in the nets,” Bahutule said.

Devdutt Padikkal’s century has also strengthened his case for a place in the playing XI, though Bahutule said the final call would be taken after assessing the conditions in Galle.

“He expressed himself. He batted beautifully. And he is ready to, you know, whatever the decision, once we go to Galle, we will see the pitch.” With India currently fifth in the World Test Championship standings, Bahutule said the team was keen to make the most of the Sri Lanka series.

“WTC cycle is a very important cycle. And every series is important. So, our effort is that, back of the mind, we definitely want to go there and win. And be a part of the finals and win the WTC also,” he said.

On India’s four spinners — Jadeja, Suthar, Jain and Kuldeep — Bahutule said each offered a different quality, making the selection call in Galle a difficult but welcome one.

“All four spinners have that uniqueness. We have got experience with Jaddu. We have got great accuracy levels with Manav Suthar. And, obviously, Saransh has got experience. He has performed really well in domestic cricket. And that is how he has earned his spot,” he said.

“And Kuldeep, being a wrist spinner, it always helps to have a wrist spinner in the side so that there is variety.”

Published – August 10, 2026 12:50 am IST

Rishabh Pant. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Kuldeep Yadav during a practice session.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

India’s Shardul Thakur on day two of the fourth test cricket match between India and England, at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground, in Manchester, Thursday, July 24, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Delhi Capitals Schedule IPL 2025: Delhi Capitals (DC) have had a major reshuffle to their squad following the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction, and are expected by many to appoint India all-rounder Axar Patel as captain of the side. With Rishabh Pant leaving DC, the franchise retained Axar, chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs and Abishek Porel. KL Rahul was the team’s headline purchase at the auction, while Australians Mitchell Starc and Jake Fraser-McGurk were also bought for big money. Delhi will be aiming for their first title win in IPL 2025.

Here is Delhi Capitals’ IPL 2025 schedule in full:

DC vs LSG – 7:30 PM IST – Marh 24 – ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vishakhapatnam

DC vs SRH – 3:30 PM IST – March 30 – ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vishakhapatnam

CSK vs DC – 3:30 PM IST – April 5 – MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

RCB vs DC – 7:30 PM IST – April 10 – M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

DC vs MI – 7:30 PM IST – April 13 – Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

DC vs RR – 7:30 PM IST – April 16 – Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

GT vs DC – 3:30 PM IST – April 19 – Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

LSG vs DC – 7:30 PM IST – April 22 – Ekana Stadium, Lucknow

DC vs RCB – 7:30 PM IST – April 27 – Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

DC vs KKR – 7:30 PM IST – April 29 – Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

SRH vs DC – 7:30 PM IST –  May 5 – Uppal Stadium, Hyderabad

PBKS vs DC – 7:30 PM IST – May 8 – New Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mullanpur

DC vs GT – 7:30 PM IST – May 11 – Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

MI vs DC – 7:30 PM IST – May 15 – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

DC Full Squad:

KL Rahul, Harry Brook, Faf du Plessis, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Donovan Ferreira, Tripurana Vijay, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Ajay Mandal, Manvanth Kumar, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Jake Fraser-McGurk, T. Natarajan, Mohit Sharma, Darshan Nalkande, Vipraj Nigam

With India 2-0 up, as many as three players found a spot each in India’s playing XI for the third and final ODI against England. Yet, wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant found no place in the team for the dead rubber. Pant, who was added to India’s squad not just for the ODI series against England but also for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy. After India won the first two matches, changes were expected to be made with the team. While India skipper Rohit Sharma did announce multiple swaps in the playing XI, KL Rahul continued to be persisted for the role behind the stumps as Pant warmed the bench.

It was England skipper Jos Buttler who won the toss and opted to field first. Rohit, however, confirmed that he wanted to bat first anyway. Hence, both captains got what they wanted.

“I wanted to bat first and put runs on the board because we bowled first in the last two games. It was important for us to get a win in the last game. The fielders portrayed themselves well in the last two games, a lot of young blood. We want to continue to do well in the field. They are pretty new in their careers so we want to keep the pressure away from them, let them do their own and they have got a lot of potential.

Rohit announced that Shami and Jadeja were rested for the match but Varun couldn’t participate due to a sore calf issue. Hence, India had to make three changes.

“We have made some changes – Jadeja and Shami have been rested, unfortunately, Varun has a sore calf. So, Washi, Kuldeep, and Arshdeep come into the side,” Rohit said at the time of toss,” said the skipper.

“We are gonna bowl first today. (On whether the expected dew has influenced his decision to bowl first) A little bit maybe, it may spin a bit later. We have batted first in the first two games so it will be a different experience today ahead of the Champions Trophy. It’s a decent wicket, we played New Zealand in the World Cup a few years ago, it was a black soil pitch and it played better in the second half. We have one change – Tom Banton comes in for Jamie Overton into the side,” the England skipper said after the toss. 

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh

England Playing XI: Philip Salt(w), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(c), Tom Banton, Liam Livingstone, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood

Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been included in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) squad for their Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh at Holkar Stadium in Indore from Thursday onwards. Kuldeep, having not played any competitive cricket since the first Test against New Zealand at Bengaluru in October 2024, is making his return to the sport after a hernia surgery, as per ESPNCricinfo. With both UP and MP out of contention for the quarterfinals, Kuldeep will get some quality game time to check his fitness and rhythm ahead of the three-match ODI series against England from February 6 onwards. Kuldeep is a part of that series and in the provisional ICC Champions Trophy squad as well.

On Monday, he had thanked the National Cricket Academy (NCA) staff for their help in his recovery. Taking to social media, he had written, “Recovery takes a team. Grateful to the NCA and it’s team for all the work behind the scenes!”

Recovery takes a team. Grateful to the NCA and it’s team for all the work behind the scenes! ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/dHhwngvpaG

— Kuldeep yadav (@imkuldeep18) January 27, 2025

Apart from Kuldeep, various Indian stars such as Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Riyan Parag will also be in action during the last league stage of the competition.

In 42 first-class matches, Kuldeep has taken 161 wickets at an average of 29.14, with best figures of 6/79. He has taken eight five-wicket hauls in his career so far. He has also done a decent job with the bat, scoring 1,039 runs in 42 matches and 56 innings at an average of 21.20, with a century and six fifties. His best score is 117.

UP Squad:

Aryan Juyal (captain, wicketkeeper), Karan Sharma, Abhishek Goswami, Madhav Kaushik, Priyam Garg, Rituraj Sharma, Aaditya Sharma (wicketkeeper), Shivam Mavi, Saurabh Kumar, Shivam Sharma, Kritagya Kumar Singh, Vijay Kumar, Atal Bihari Rai, Vaibhav Chaudhary, Zeeshan Ansari, Kartikeya Jaiswal, Kartik Tyagi, Kuldeep Yadav.

Indian spinner Varun Chakravarthy continued his solid run of form in international cricket, breaking Kuldeep Yadav‘s record for most wickets by an Indian spinner in a stretch of T20I matches. Chakravarthy has been a revelation for the T20I side since his return to the set-up last year, having last played for India in 2021 before that. During the third T20I, Chakravarthy shined with figures of 5/24 in four overs, getting wickets of skipper Jos Buttler, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer, which completely derailed England from 83/1 to 127/8.

Now since his return to T20Is last year, Varun has played 10 matches, taking 27 wickets at an average of 10.96, an economy rate of 7.40 and best bowling figures of 5/17. After 16 overall games, he has taken 29 wickets at an average of 14.65, with an economy rate of 6.84, which is also impressive.

With his five-wicket haul, Varun Chakravarthy reached 10 wickets in the series. Chakravarthy is now the first player to take 10 wickets in a single bilateral T20I series between India and England.

Now, he has overtaken Kuldeep Yadav (25 wickets) for most wickets by an Indian spinner in the 10-match stretch in T20Is. Globally, he stands at number three, next to Syazrul Idrus (Malaysia, 28 wickets) and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan (Afghanistan, 30 wickets).

Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to bowl first. Despite a fine 76-run stand between Ben Duckett (51 in 28 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and skipper Buttler (24 in 22 balls, with a four and six), England lost wickets to spinners regularly. Despite a fighting 43 in 28 balls by Liam Livingstone (one four and five sixes), England could score just 171/9 in their 20 overs.

Chakravarthy (5/24) was the top wicket-taker for India, with Hardik Pandya getting two wickets as well. Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel also got a wicket each.

File photo of Kuldeep Yadav© AFP