Former England captain Michael Vaughan has said that the Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav has not got better with time and has indicated that it’s a major reason why he has been found wanting. The left-arm tweaker has struggled in the ODI series against England and was in fact dropped from the team for the final match. 

In the first match, he went for 68 runs from nine overs and followed that up with figures of 0-84 from 10 overs in the second match. In the final match, captain Virat Kohli left him out and opted to play an extra seamer. Vaughan’s comments came ahead of the third ODI on Sunday at the MCA Stadium in Pune. 

While talking to Cricbuzz, Vaughan pointed out that Kuldeep has not developed his game in a proper way and the batters have been able to figure him out. “Looking at him, I don’t think he got better. He’s probably stayed at the same level. In IPL cricket, if international cricket, if you are not bringing something different to your game, particularly as a leg-spinner – a subtle variation, change in pace, an angle change – so, I think he has been found out a bit,” Vaughan said. 

These players got all technology to watch delivery over and over again: Michael Vaughan

Vaughan also explained how technology has helped batsmen understand the way Kuldeep bowls and get clues from his bowling. He further noted that his pace is quite slow as well. “He has stayed at the same pace, very very slow. He’s got a slow leg-spinner and slow googly. These players got all technology to watch delivery over and over again on the video screen. They can see absolutely everything – any clues Kuldeep Yadav gives before he bowls those deliveries,” Vaughan added.

The ex-cricketer and cricket expert also revealed that Kuldeep is missing the former Indian wicketkeeper MS Dhoni, who was often heard helping the young spinner out. “Clearly, when MS Dhoni was behind the stumps, he (Kuldeep) had a captain and a think tank who could help him out,” Vaughan noted. 

Kuldeep, the 26-year old leg-spinner, has played 63 matches so far in ODI cricket and taken 105 wickets. His bowling average has been 27.9, but he has had a slight dip in form recently. It has also caused him to get dropped completely from the T20I squad, despite having picked 39 wickets in 20 T20Is.