The T20 Asia Cup 2025 is now a few days left. The tournament, starting on 9 September, will be held in UAE. At the same time, before this tournament, former India spinner Maninder Singh has made a big prediction. Actually, Maninder feels that Kuldeep Yadav will not get a chance in India’s playing XI in the Asia Cup.
According to the former cricketer, captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir will prefer the mystery spinner Varun Chakraborty on Kuldeep while Akshar Patel will be the second spinner as he can also contribute with the bat.
Kuldeep played the last match for India in March 2025, which was the final of the ICC Champions Trophy. He also went on a tour of England but did not get a chance to play a single Test match. Kuldeep played the last T20 International match in June 2024. This was the T20 World Cup final, in which Kuldeep gave 45 runs but did not take any wickets. However, he took 15 wickets for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025 at an average of 24.06. His economy rate was 7.07 runs per over, which is impressive.
Maninder told India Today that, I suspect that if he lands in the Asia Cup with two spinners, he will feed Kuldeep Yadav or not. Akshar Patel will be as he can bat and Varun Chakraborty. The former spinner said that India would have won the series if Kuldeep had played in England. He said that, if he fed Kuldeep Yadav in Test matches in England, India would have won the series 3–1.
Maninder hoped Varun Chakraborty to repeat a brilliant performance like the 2025 Champions Trophy in UAE. He described him as the most effective of T20 squad spinners. The former spinner said that he is a great bowler. He is very clever, such bowlers are rarely seen in world cricket. So I think he will prove to be very effective in the three Indian spinners in the Asia Cup. He is a very smart bowler.