IND vs AUS: Why is Kuldeep Yadav Not Playing Today's India vs Australia 3rd Test? Check India Playing XI

Kuldeep Yadav IND vs AUS: India have once again left out chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav from the playing XI in the third Test match being hosted at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. The Indian team took a 2-0 lead in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 four-match Test series with an excellent 6-wicket victory over Australia in the second Test match in Delhi during a space of less than 3 days. Incidentally, India managed to retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth time in a row in a matter of just six days of Test cricket.

IND vs AUS: Why is Kuldeep Yadav Not Playing Today’s India vs Australia 3rd Test?

After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma stated that they are playing the same spin combination for the third Test in a row against Australia. This means that the trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel will be playing while Kuldeep Yadav will sit out. During the two Test matches so far in this series, Jadeja has been the Man of the Match in both the games with a total of 17 wickets at an average of 11.24 while Ashwin has taken as many as 14 wickets. On the other hand, Axar is the second highest run-scorer with a total of 158 runs that includes two really important half-centuries. Therefore, the Indian team management has absolutely no reasons to tinker with their spin department and Kuldeep will have to wait for his opportunity having picked up a stunning six-wicket haul in Bangladesh.

“We will have a bat first. It is a pretty good dressing room and like you said the morale is high. The guys are confident about their skills which is a good thing moving forward. We have played a lot of cricket (here) but this one (surface) is slightly different. Looks little dry and you have to adapt your skills and be at it all the time. We are there yet (WTC final) and we have to come and win this game, we have to try and repeat the things we did in the first two Tests. It is important to stay present. We have made two changes – Gill comes in place of KL. We have rested Shami and Umesh comes in,” said India captain Rohit Sharma during the toss.

India Playing XI

1. Rohit Sharma (C)
2. Shubman Gill
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Virat Kohli
5. Shreyas Iyer
6. KS Bharat (wk)
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Axar Patel
9. Ravichandran Ashwin
10. Umesh Yadav
11. Mohammed Siraj

#AskStar Should India have played kuldeep yadav here considering kunheman heroics now ? @StarSportsIndia

— Varul Chaturvedi?? (@VarulChaturved5) March 1, 2023

Looking at the pitch #KuldeepYadav should be drafted in place of #Shami. We should have bring #Chahal also here from the ODI squad & should go with all spin attack. It is turning square in the first hour already.#INDvAUS | #BGT2023 | #WTC23

— Saurabh Garewal ?? (@garewal_saurabh) March 1, 2023