Former India left-arm spinner Maninder Singh on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, called Kuldeep Yadav's persistent exclusion from India's playing XI a 'mystery,' asserting that the team management lacks sufficient confidence in the left-arm wrist-spinner despite his outstanding record. Maninder's remarks came ahead of India's five-match ODI series against New Zealand, beginning at Eden Park, Auckland on Wednesday, 4 November.

A record that demands answers

Kuldeep Yadav has taken 201 wickets in 124 ODIs — more than any other bowler in India's current squad — yet he did not play a single match in the recent 3-2 T20I series win over New Zealand. Over the past two years, he has featured in only three of India's 35 matches in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia). Head coach Gautam Gambhir's preference for batting depth down to number eight, combined with the absence of Hardik Pandya, has led India to routinely field three specialist fast bowlers, squeezing out the spinner.

Maninder draws the Murali Kartik parallel

'See, this has become a little mystery for me as well — that why Kuldeep Yadav is not being played regularly. He's a wrist spinner, who is very effective in one-day cricket, and T20 cricket. But according to me, Kuldeep Yadav will be very effective in Test cricket as well, if he is given that confidence,' Maninder said during a virtual interaction on Tuesday.

He went further, recalling India's 2-2 Test series draw in England roughly a year and a half ago. 'I wasn't happy about it, because I know that if we played Kuldeep Yadav regularly in those five Test matches, India would have won that series by 3-1,' he said. Maninder drew a direct parallel with former left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, whose international career was curtailed partly because captains Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid — themselves adept at facing left-arm spin — reportedly undervalued his threat. 'I feel the same thing is happening here with Kuldeep Yadav,' Maninder added.

Hardik Pandya's absence a compounding worry

India's seam-bowling depth is stretched thin for the ODI series. Jasprit Bumrah has been rested ahead of the upcoming Test series, while Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana are sidelined by injury. Mohammed Siraj, with 77 wickets in 51 ODIs, leads an inexperienced attack that includes Arshdeep Singh (18 ODI caps), Gurnoor Brar (9 caps), Anshul Kamboj and Auqib Nabi (1 cap each), and uncapped Yash Thakur, who has been named only for the final two matches. Hardik Pandya has not played since IPL 2026 after a series of fitness setbacks, the latest being a shin injury that ruled him out of India A's one-day games against Australia A in Puducherry in October. 'The Indian team is missing Hardik Pandya. There is no doubt about it,' Maninder said.

The Daryl Mitchell threat and India's top-order dominance

Should Kuldeep get a game, he will face Daryl Mitchell, who tormented him in the ODI series in India earlier this year — a series New Zealand won 2-1. According to CricViz, Kuldeep conceded at 7.28 runs per over in that series, his costliest ODI stretch, taking three wickets in three matches at an average of 60.7. Mitchell's sweep shot has yielded 147 runs from 109 balls against spinners since the start of 2024, at a strike rate of 135, and he is yet to be dismissed playing it. 'If you think that you shouldn't let him make more runs then you are in trouble,' Maninder cautioned, stressing that bowlers must focus on taking Mitchell's wicket rather than merely containing him.

At the other end, India's top order remains formidable. CricViz data shows that since January 2025, Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli have combined for 4,181 runs across 26 ODIs, averaging 63.3 at a strike rate of 104.3, with 16 hundreds between them. The trio accounts for 59 per cent of India's runs over that period — the highest share for any Full Member nation and well above the global average of 43 per cent. Kohli alone has scored 519 runs in 10 ODIs against New Zealand since 2023 at an average of 51.90.

What to watch in the ODI series

The five-match ODI series opens at Eden Park, Auckland on 4 November 2026. All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy departs after the first game to prepare for the two-Test series. Maninder backed Naman Dhir as a versatile option who 'makes fast runs in batting and is a very capable bowler,' while calling Axar Patel a player capable of rising to the occasion with minimal pre-match guidance. Whether Kuldeep finally gets his opportunity on New Zealand pitches — historically offering more assistance to bowlers than subcontinental surfaces — remains the most-watched selection call of the tour.