• Source:JND
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IND vs OMN Asia Cup 2025: India's star spinner Kuldeep Yadav has said that team India's head coach Gautam Gambhir was quite clear in the Test series against England and since Kuldeep Yadav wasn't the part of playing XI in any of the match but had made huge impact during the ongoing tournament and has won consecutive player of the match awards for his performance against UAE and Pakistan. He has helped the team win their first two matches, where he registered figures of 4/7 and 3/18 after playing in two matches.

Kuldeep has finally reacted to the clear communication that he got from head coach Gautam Gambhir and said that he was snubbed from the playing XI owing to the playing combination.

“Communication was clear. Sometimes I felt I could play, but unfortunately, due to batting depth or combinations, I didn’t get a place. Gautam Bhai (coach) was straightforward about it. It wasn’t about skill or batting but about team composition due to conditions. I enjoyed my time and learned a lot. When you don’t play, you learn more by observing and become a better player. It’s easy to blame others, but tough to accept and work on your weaknesses and improve,” Kuldeep told reporters during the pre-match press conference.

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At the same time, he admitted that he had a hard time immediately coming back into the playing XI to perform well in the ongoing tournament, as he didn't play in a single match against England. But he said that he tried to keep himself fit and also worked on his bowling in that series.

“Challenges are always there because when you play the first game, your rhythm is very important. If you keep playing regularly, your rhythm stays set, and you get an idea of how to bowl or spend time on the field, how to react. That was missing a bit. But for me, it was a very good time to work on myself, improve fitness, and add volume to my bowling because that is very important. Then, I played the Duleep Trophy match where I was wicketless but bowled 35 overs, which helped me set my rhythm. My mindset wasn’t to overthink, just focus on my strengths and bowl in the right areas,” he concluded.

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He is the seventh highest wicket-getter of this event as he has taken seven wickets after playing in two matches at a brilliant average of 3.57 and an economy rate of 4.05. On the back of his brilliant performance, the Suryakumar Yadav-led team has reached the Super 4 after winning their first two matches and will lock horns with Oman during their last group stage match on Friday in Abu Dhabi.