Kuldeep Yadav Snub: Bowling Coach Morne Morkel Cites Batting Balance

Morne Morkel, bowling coach for India, has finally had his say on the Kuldeep Yadav missing out on the playing XI in the ongoing Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy against England. Although Kuldeep Yadav has been in terrific form, he has not played at all in the five-Test series. Morkel, however, insisted that India are thinking about a bigger picture. 

Morne Morkel’s remarks 

While addressing the media after India let go of more than 500 runs in the fourth Test at Manchester, Morkel was pressed again and again about Kuldeep’s omission. His answer revealed a pragmatic approach: “Kuldeep is world-class…we’re doing our best to try and find a way for him to get in,” but he added, “to balance with batting throws it out a little bit.” India appear to be prioritizing batting depth in the line-up sometimes at the cost of specialist players. 

Morkel later gave a sense of India’s mental approach: “We’ve seen that we’ve lost wickets in clumps in the past.”…so giving some extra protection batting on the top side, etc is important.” England’s batting-friendly conditions allow for totals of over 400, and India’s management believes the depth of batting is more important than extra spin in their line-up.

Even though the pitches offer some turn, the series has favored seamers and ruled out Kuldeep, opting instead for spin all-rounders like Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja. Morkel commented, “the wicket so far has been dry and spun a little bit, so that brings Washington and Jadeja into play.” He reiterated that Kuldeep is in the mix, assuming the top order batting starts to consistently produce runs.

Morkel also pointed to the broader challenges. The Indian pace bowlers lacked energy on the ball on a flat Old Trafford surface and injuries to Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj haven’t helped. Ultimately, India is juggling the two approaches, ensuring resistance on the batting front while seeing if they can introduce wicket-taking threats.

And so Kuldeep Yadav, although arguably deserving, is still on the bench, entirely not for his skill, but more regard for team balance and the scoreboard. The message from Morkel is clear: Kuldeep is never out of the picture but for now, the runs have to take precedent over the spin in the tour. As England build their runs, the Indian camp is more pragmatic than flamboyant in their thinking.

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