ODI World Cup: He's one of India's trump cards: Agarkar

The Indian cricket team's chief selector Ajit Agarkar lauded the 28-year-old chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav and said that he will be one of the trump cards for the Men in Blue in the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023. 

India's squad for the forthcoming Australia ODI series was announced earlier this week.

Agarkar said during the squad announcement that Kuldeep will bring variations against different oppositions.

“You can see in various conditions against various oppositions. He’s one of India’s trump cards. So we’re very happy for him and excited to see what he’s doing on the cricket field at the moment," Agakar said, according to ICC.

Agarkar talked about the time when he worked with Kuldeep at Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and showered praise on the 28-year-old spinner and said that he has a special skill set.

“I have spent a couple of years with him in the IPL,” Agarkar said. “He’s a guy with a special skill set, you can see that. Every player needs to be shown faith, given a bit of confidence which is what the Indian team management has done. And it's probably showing on the field right now,” he added.
“And hopefully he can continue doing that because clearly most teams are finding him a challenge. All of us are very excited with what lies ahead.” 

The Indian chinaman spinner displayed a stunning performance in the Asia Cup 2023 and was also named the Player of the Series. 

In the Asia Cup 2023, Kuldeep picked nine wickets. In the third Super Four match against Pakistan, Kuldeep took a five-wicket haul and against Sri Lanka the spinner picked up four wickets in his 10-over spell.

India will start their ODI World Cup 2023 journey against Australia on October 8 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.