Former India left-arm spinner Maninder Singh has said that he was surprised to see a lack of opportunities for Kuldeep Yadav in India’s white-ball sides.
Kuldeep – whose last T20I appearance came against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup – was a part of India’s squads for the ODI and T20I series against England, but did not play a single match in eight outings. He has been left out of the squad for the Zimbabwe tour as well, and will instead spend a stint playing for Yorkshire in the One-Day Cup and County Championship.
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“If you have a bowler like Kuldeep Yadav who gets you wickets, you have to give him confidence. In the past, I’ve seen that he’s not been given the confidence he really needed, and his confidence is probably shaken,” Maninder said.
“Sometimes what happens if the team management is not giving you confidence, you think that you have to do extra, try harder than what you’re doing, and you can struggle when you’re trying too hard to impress,” he elaborated.
The 61-year-old warned against dropping him, saying, “If you keep dropping him, in time his confidence is going to get shattered.”
Opportunity for batters to impress
India’s batters struggled to deal with extra bounce from Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue in England, and will encounter a similar challenge while facing captain Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani in Zimbabwe. Maninder noted though, that this challenge offers the batters an opportunity to impress.
“It’s going to be a good test for these youngsters who are getting an opportunity after struggling in England. Let’s hope that they’ve learned from the kind of mistakes that they’ve made in that series,” he said.
“Being mentally strong is very important. We’ll have to wait and see how these boys adjust to conditions like that.”
Maninder also noted that the team management would have to instill confidence in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who produced just 42 runs in his first three international appearances in England.
“He’s going to carry on playing the kind of cricket that he plays and he’s an impact player. He can win you a match on his own. I’m sure there’s nobody else apart from him and Abhishek Sharma to open the innings for India,” he said. “So he’s going to get all the three games and he’s somebody who needs that push, who needs to be given that kind of confidence.”
Maninder said it was important the team management kept Sooryavanshi high in morale and confidence after a mediocre debut series against England.
| Photo Credit:
AP
Maninder said it was important the team management kept Sooryavanshi high in morale and confidence after a mediocre debut series against England.
| Photo Credit:
AP
He also backed Sooryavanshi to learn from his experiences in England, saying, “He must have learned from the kind of pitches that he played in England, because the pitches are going to be somewhat similar.
“There’s going to be grass on the surface, hard pitches where the ball moves around. They’ve got a couple of tall, fast bowlers. So it’s going to be a test of character basically for him as well.”
On India’s bowling stocks
Maninder noted that the series could provide India an opportunity to build up its fast-bowling stocks. Its seamers struggled in England, but the squad for this series contains a handful of relatively new faces including Ashok Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav, and Yash Thakur.
“From what I saw of the Indian fast bowlers in England, I’m sure the selectors are looking for better, faster bowlers who could bowl consistently with good line and length, and are ready for international cricket,” he said.
“I think it is a great opportunity for all these four boys to actually prove their mettle.”
The former left-arm spinner also named Manav Suthar as a player he would like to see named in India’s white-ball teams soon, saying, “I was very impressed with him in that Test match that he played against Afghanistan. Whenever I see a spinner, I see how the ball is coming out of the hand of a spinner, and you know that this boy has worked really hard and is a quality spinner.”
Maninder highlighted that working on his run-up could help Ravi Bishnoi fix his no-ball problem.
| Photo Credit:
AFP
Maninder highlighted that working on his run-up could help Ravi Bishnoi fix his no-ball problem.
| Photo Credit:
AFP
However, he critiqued the selection of Ravi Bishnoi, who came under the scanner for bowling three backfoot no-balls in his last T20I appearance against England, and said that the leg-spinner needed to work on his run-up.
“He has to work a lot on his run-up because if he carries on going that way in his run-up, going from left to right, and then trying to approach the crease, he’s going to keep bowling those no balls,” he said.
“If you’re trying to see some spot where you’re bowling, your focus is never going to be there if you keep moving left and right. But if he thinks that he’s going to spoil the concentration of the batter, I think his own concentration is getting spoiled doing that.”
Published on Jul 22, 2026
