It was another forgettable outing for Kuldeep Yadav as the India spinner failed to provide India with breakthroughs in the middle overs as the hosts slipped to a 6-wicket defeat to England in the 2nd ODI in Pune on Saturday.
Kuldeep Yadav claimed an unwanted Indian record as he gave away 8 sixes in the 2nd ODI. This is the most number of sixes conceded by an Indian in ODI cricket. He surpassed former India fast bowler Vinay Kumar, who had given away 7 sixes against Australia in 2013 in Bengaluru, on the unwanted list.
Kuldeep Yadav finished with figures of 0 for 84 in his quota of 10 overs as England gunned down a 337-run target with 6 wickets and 39 balls to spare. Kuldeep was a shadow of his aggressive self as the left-arm wrist-spinner struggled to find any kind of rhythm.
Ben Stokes was severe against Kuldeep, who gave away 3 sixes and 20 runs in the 33rd over of England’s chase. Stokes hit as many as 4 sixes against Kuldeep in the 2nd ODI while Jonny Bairstow hit 3 and Jason Roy hit 1 with which he got to his fifty.
Kuldeep was looking to motivate himself by putting in extra effort which was visible with the way he grunted while delivering but it made no difference as the balls kept sailing into the empty stands.
Kuldeep is no more a regular starter for India in Tests and T20Is but the young spinner was handed an opportunity in the ongoing ODI series. However, the wrist-spinner looked clueless and low on confidence as he went without a wicket in both the ODIs.
India was forced to get 16 overs from Kuldeep and Krunal as they did not use Hardik Pandya as the 6th bowling option despite picking him in the XI in the 2nd ODI.
