3 reasons India must play Kuldeep Yadav overseas more often

Kuldeep Yadav has long been one of India's most potent bowling options, yet questions persist about whether he is picked often enough when the team travels abroad. His numbers across formats suggest that the hesitation is difficult to justify on cricketing grounds.

The left-arm wrist-spinner is sometimes viewed as a bowler suited only "only for Indian pitches", but the evidence points in a different direction. A closer look at his overseas returns, his cross-format wicket-taking ability and the rarity of his skill set builds a strong case for more consistent selection away from home.

Here are three reasons India must play Kuldeep Yadav overseas more often:

1. Overseas returns that demand attention

In four overseas Tests, Kuldeep Yadav has taken 18 wickets at an average of 19.56 and a strike rate of 35.61 balls per wicket. Those are figures that most specialist pace bowlers would be satisfied with in away conditions, let alone a spinner. He also claimed two five-wicket hauls in those four matches, one of which was a return of 5 for 40. The small sample of four Tests means the numbers must be read with appropriate caution, but the consistency within that sample is hard to dismiss.

His ODI record away from home is equally compelling. Across 44 away ODIs, Kuldeep has taken 77 wickets at an average of 22.34. That volume of wickets at that cost, in conditions that typically favour seam and swing, underlines how effectively his wrist spin travels. In the South Africa vs India ODI series of 2025-26, he was India's leading wicket-taker with nine wickets, adding further recent evidence to the overseas case.

2. A wicket-taker across all three formats

Kuldeep Yadav's overall ODI tally stands at 201 wickets at an average of 26.94, with a strike rate of 31.76, which works out to roughly one wicket every five overs. In T20Is, he has taken 98 wickets at an average of 14.20 and a strike rate of 11.99, figures that place him among the most economical and penetrative white-ball spinners in world cricket.

Between June 2025 and August 2026, he took 24 wickets across six Tests at an average of 26.16 . Among India's spinners who bowled in at least five Tests during that period, Kuldeep recorded the best strike rate of 44, confirming that his Test form in 2026 has been sharp. He was also India's leading wicket-taker in the home Test series against West Indies in 2025-26, finishing with 12 wickets.

3. A scarce skill set that travels well

Kuldeep Yadav is the first left-arm wrist-spin bowler to represent India in Test cricket, a distinction that makes him genuinely difficult to plan against. Bowling over the wicket to right-hand batters from the left-arm angle, he combines sharp turn with changes of pace and a well-disguised googly, keeping both edges and the stumps in play simultaneously.

On flatter pitches abroad, his trajectory, drift and variation create uncertainty through the air and off the surface, attributes that wrist spin can produce regardless of whether the pitch is offering assistance. His attributes make him a key strike bowler even in conditions where there is not much help for the bowlers.