IND vs AUS 2023: Kuldeep Yadav will be a big impact player – Sanjay Bangar

Former Indian all-rounder Sanjay Bangar reckons Kuldeep Yadav will be a big impact player in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series. Yadav has made a fine comeback in the recent past after he was struggling with his form.

The left-arm spinner scalped eight wickets in the first Test match against Bangladesh and thus he was awarded the Player of the Match. But, unfortunately he was dropped from the second game against the Tigers despite his match-winning performance.

Yadav has performed consistently for the team in the subsequent white-ball series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand whenever he got his chances. The wrist spinner took five wickets in two ODIs against Sri Lanka.

The 28-year-old continued his good form against the Kiwis as he snared six wickets in three ODIs to finish as the joint-leading wicket-taker of the series. Moreover, he was picked up two scalps in three T20Is against the Blackcaps.

Sanjay Bangar said on Star Sports, “In the bowling department, I feel Kuldeep Yadav will be a big impact player because I remember the 2017-18 series at Dharamsala, he picked up those three or four wickets which laid the foundation for India winning the Test series.”

“India have some very good finger spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel, whoever the team picks. But in at least two Test matches I foresee Kuldeep Yadav playing and keep making a big impact for the Indian team.”

On the other hand, Bangar added that Rohit Sharma is going to relish the opportunity of leading India in the crucial Test series against Australia.

“Rohit Sharma is certainly going to relish the responsibility of leading the Indian team in a major India-Australia series. This is always a marquee series and in this, if you have a fantastic effort, that goes on to be remembered for a long, long time.”

Former Indian batting coach added that Rohit will be determined to play all the four Test matches against a potent team like Australia.

“Along with that, Rohit will also be very keen to play all the four Test matches because so far in his career, at times due to injuries and at times due to personal reasons, he hasn’t been able to play four Test matches in a row against a top team like Australia.”

“So he would certainly want to be at the top of his game, see off that new ball and present a brilliant aggressive approach against the spinners. That’s how Rohit Sharma will be looking at this India-Australia series.”

The first Test match will be played in Nagpur from February 9 onwards.