AUS vs IND 2025: "Play Kuldeep Yadav instead of a batter" - Former India pacer's advice to Gautam Gambhir for 3rd ODI

Published - 24 Oct 2025, 17:49 IST | Updated - 24 Oct 2025, 18:05 IST

Former India speedster Varun Aaron believes that Kuldeep Yadav should have played the first two ODIs against Australia. The former pacer urged the Indian team management to bring Kuldeep into the playing XI instead of a batter in the inconsequential third ODI.

India have already lost the three-match series after suffering defeats in the first two games in Perth and Sydney. The third ODI takes place at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday, October 25.

Aaron feels that if India head into the third ODI a batter short, it will force the batters in the playing XI to take more responsibility on themselves and bat deeper into the innings.

"Kuldeep Yadav should have come in from game one. You will have to sacrifice a batsman. Obviously, you can't play two fast bowlers in Australia. That's that. That would be a no-go. But Kuldeep is somebody who will get you wickets. He will make up for those runs which you didn't score. And also, the moment you have one batter short, I feel batsmen in general would take more responsibility on themselves and try to dig in deeper because they know they don't have that cushion at the back," Aaron said while speaking to Star Sports.

Aaron opined that Kuldeep would be able to give India wickets through the middle overs. The cricketer-turned-commentator feels that in the first two ODIs, the Men in Blue were waiting for the opposition batters to make mistakes and get out instead of trying to dismiss them.

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"It's not that India have never played with seven batters before. They have in the past, and I think Kuldeep would be a great addition because he would get you wickets in the middle. And today again, India were depending on the batsmen to make mistakes, rather than to get wickets in the middle. But they didn't really get the batsman out, if that makes sense. They're two very different things," said Aaron.