'Real king of spin is back': Fans on Twitter ecstatic after India include Kuldeep Yadav, Bishnoi for West Indies series
Fans on Twitter have been left heavily impressed by BCCI's decision to include leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi in India's squad for the upcoming home series against West Indies.
The BCCI on Wednesday released India's squad for the upcoming home series against West Indies. One of the biggest talking points was the inclusion of leg-spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi and the fans on Twitter could not hold back their excitement upon reading the “good news”.
While Yadav has been picked only for the ODIs, the BCCI has included Bishnoi in both teams. Rohit Sharma is back to leading the team after missing the South Africa tour due to injury.
Calls for recalling Yadav and handing a chance to Ravi Bishnoi picked up heat after the collective failure of spinners in the ODI series during the ODI tour. R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal barely bagged any wickets and moreover, they finished with high economy rates during the 3-0 whitewash at the hands of the Proteas.
Left-arm spinner Yadav last played white-ball cricket for India in July 2021. The last Test he played was in February 2021. Yadav fell out of favour during MS Dhoni's retirement during the Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri era.
Until the 2019 season, the year in which Dhoni called quits, Yadav thrived for India. He played 24 matches in that season, picking 55 wickets. After that, his decline began. In the next season, he played just 10 international games. And in the last two years, he's played a total of 8 matches. Moreover, he was also made to sit out by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) management during the last two Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons.
On the other hand, fans have been left impressed by Bishnoi's IPL exploits in the previous seasons for Punjab Kings, claiming 12 wickets each in 2020 and 2021.
Here are some of the best reactions from the world of Twitter:
India and West Indies will play a white-ball series only. The tour will begin on February 6 with the ODI series. All three matches will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It will be followed by a three-match T20I series at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
The BCCI, while making the announcement on Twitter, also added:
“Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami have been rested from the series. KL Rahul will be available from 2nd ODI onwards. R Jadeja is undergoing his final stage of recovery post his knee injury and will not be available for the ODIs and T20Is. Axar Patel will be available for the T20Is.”
ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (Capt), KL Rahul (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shikhar, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), D Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Y Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan
T20I: Rohit Sharma(Capt), KL Rahul (vc), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel
