Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav has been remarkable on the foreign soil recently. His five-wicket haul against Australia in the Sydney Test this year has certainly made him the frontline spinner in the Indian setup while the Indian head coach, Ravi Shastri believes that the left-arm wrist spinner is firmly ahead of veteran Ravichandran Ashwin in the pecking order.
Shastri made it clear that going forward, wrist spinners will be in vogue in Test cricket and Kuldeep is "already" ahead of Ashwin and Jadeja as country's No.1 spinner.
“Already! He plays overseas Test cricket and he gets five wickets, so he becomes our primary overseas spinner. Going ahead, if we have to play one spinner, he is the one we will pick,” Shastri said in an interview.
“There is a time for everyone (referring to Ashwin's poor fitness record in 2018). But now Kuldeep is our frontline number one overseas spinner,” he added.
Kuldeep bagged a five-for in the rain-affected Sydney Test and most of the Australian batsmen failed to read him.
“I was very impressed with the way Kuldeep bowled in Sydney. Even in Test cricket, it is going to be the age of wrist spin, especially in overseas Test cricket. The way he bowled in Sydney, he becomes our number one spinner in overseas Test cricket,” Shastri said.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were the most dependable spin-twin, especially in the blues until the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Once the pairing of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal cemented their spots in the team, the former duo was gradually sidelined. Though Jadeja managed to return in the ODIs, Ashwin is yet to make his comeback in the white-ball format.