Star spinner Kuldeep Yadav was a big name missing from the India Playing XI for the AUS vs IND 4th T20I match today (November 6). With the series currently tied at 1-1, Kuldeep could have played a crucial role in helping the visitors take a lead. However, he will be absent for the remainder of the series and will not feature in the last two T20Is.
The reason behind his absence is that he was called back to India to get ready for the upcoming two-Test match series against South Africa next from November 14. Kuldeep will now play for the India A side in the second unofficial Test against South Africa A starting today as well.
The news from the match centre is that Australia have won the toss and opted to bowl first.
India — Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jitesh Sharma (w), Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia — Mitchell Marsh (c), Matthew Short, Josh Inglis (w), Tim David, Josh Philippe, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, and Adam Zampa.
Prior to the Australia tour, Kuldeep was looking in blazing form. He finished as the top wicket-taker during the Asia Cup 2025 win, with 17 wickets in 7 innings at an average of 9.29. He followed it up with another top-drawer performance as the highest wicket-taker in the two-Test home series against West Indies with 12 wickets in two games, which includes a five-wicket haul.
However, his performances took a turn in Australia where he had an underwhelming show. He played one ODI and one T20I, taking 1/50 in 10 overs and 2/45 in 3.2 overs respectively. Subsequently, he was dropped from the side for the third T20I and replaced by Washington Sundar before being called back.
ALSO READ:
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, and Washington Sundar.
Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Sai Sudharsan (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurnoor Brar, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, and Kuldeep Yadav.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
