Sometimes I miss MS Dhoni's guidance from behind the wicket: Kuldeep Yadav

Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav stated that he misses Mahendra Singh Dhoni's guidance from behind the wickets. Yadav and Dhoni last played together in the 2019 World Cup. After the World Cup, MS Dhoni retired from international cricket. Ever since he retired from international cricket, India has gone with Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson and KL Rahul as the wicketkeepers. 

In 2017, both spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal performed brilliantly in the limited-overs formats. Quite often, MS Dhoni was seen guiding the youngsters. However, after Dhoni quit playing, Kuldeep Yadav struggled to keep his place in the Indian cricket team. Kuldeep also highlighted that the wrist-spin bowlers had played 44 games together. However, after the retirement of MS Dhoni, they have not played any game. Kuldeep's form has taken a massive dip as the left-arm spinner has been left out of India's squad for the World Test Championship final. He has also not been included in the subsequent Test series against England. The Kolkata Knight Riders spinner did not get a single match in now-suspended IPL 2021, although the Kolkata-based franchise was playing in spin-friendly wickets in Chennai.

Kuldeep Yadav has played only one Test match in the last two years

Head coach Ravi Shastri had also stated that Kuldeep Yadav is the team's No.1 spinner in overseas conditions. Shastri's comments came after Yadav picked up his 5-wicket haul in Sydney. However, after that, he did not play a single Test for more than two years. The 27-year-old got an opportunity to play Tests against England at home earlier this year. However, the wrist-spinner conceded that he felt a lot of pressure during his comeback Test. 

Kuldeep hasn't benefitted from the lack of opportunities at his IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders. The young left-arm spinner reckoned that he started questioning his ability after being benched for IPL 2021 matches in Chennai. Notably, KKR gave opportunities to Harbhajan Singh, Sunil Narine, and Varun Chakravarthy but did not give a single game to Kuldeep. After having missed a place for the England tour, Kuldeep Yadav is likely to get a spot in the squad for the Sri Lanka tour. Team India is going to field their white-ball specialists for 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is against Sri Lanka in July. During that time, the Test specialists, including captain Virat Kohli, will be in England preparing for the 5-Test series against England.

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