Dinesh Karthik Feels 29-Year-Old Star Is Most Underrated Player In Indian Test Team

India will face Bangladesh in a two-match Test series, which is set to start on Thursday (September 19). The series opener is scheduled to take place at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, and Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium will host the second match of the series from September 27 onwards. India hammered England 4-1 in the last Test series played earlier this year, and a similar dominant show is expected from the Rohit Sharma-led side in the upcoming two matches.

Ahead of the start of the Test series against Bangladesh, former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik was asked about the most underrated player in the Indian Test team, and he mentioned Kuldeep Yadav’s name. According to him, the 29-year-old star spinner is going to be a potent weapon for India in the near future and has a big role to play in Test cricket.

“I feel Kuldeep Yadav for the skill he has is very underrated. He’s going to be a potent weapon in the near future in test cricket. Ten test matches, he has a big role to play. Don’t ever count him out. He’s a match winner,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz’s HeyCB with DK show.

Kuldeep, who made his Test debut for India against Australia in Dharamsala on March 25, 2017, has played in a total of 12 red-ball matches so far and has 53 wickets to his name. He picked up a five-wicket haul for India in the last Test played against England in Dharamsala from March 7-11, 2024. In the only Test played against Bangladesh in Chattogram from December 14-18, 2022, he dismissed five batters in the first inning apart from scoring 40 runs with the bat.

But despite his good record in recent matches for India, he is still not a confirmed starter for India in the series opener against Bangladesh at MA Chidambaram Stadium. The Kanpur-based cricketer will face tough competition from his Delhi Capitals teammate Axar Patel for a place in the playing XI. Like Kuldeep, Axar has also impressed with his performances in the recent matches, and he is coming into the series after scoring 86 runs with the bat in the first Duleep Trophy 2024 match for India D against India C in Anantapur.