“Today is the day when my parents have been rewarded for the amount of sacrifices they made to make me a cricketer”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Uncapped spinner Kuldeep Yadav is likely to make his ODI debut in the upcoming series against the West Indies after he was included in India’s 14-man squad.
It is understood that the 19-year-old has been picked after he took six wickets at a brilliant average of 25 for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the recently concluded Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20).
It has also been announced that Amit Mishra will make his ODI comeback, while regular spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been rested and leg-spinner Karn Sharma has been dropped.
Uncapped wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson, all-rounder Stuart Binny and pace bowler Dhawal Kulkarni have all been dropped as well.
Even though he has only been included in the squad for the first three ODIs, Yadav told PTI: “Today is the day when my parents have been rewarded for the amount of sacrifices they made to make me a cricketer. I was disheartened and completely broken when the UP management didn’t find me good enough to play [in the] Ranji Trophy. My parents and childhood coach consoled me a lot at that time. I started working harder and today, I am in the Indian team.”
India squad for first three ODIs: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Murali Vijay, Kuldeep Yadav