At the post-match presentation ceremony Kuldeep got a chance to express his disappointment and question the logic behind his constant omission from the Playing XI.
India threw up a couple of surprises when the playing XI for their Asia Cup opener against the UAE was announced. One among them was Kuldeep Yadav's inclusion as an extra spinner.
There were doubts whether the team management would field both wrist-spinners -- Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy -- together, given the team's frequent issue of having a long tail.
Kuldeep, who was sidelined during the recent England Test series, however, justified the confidence placed in him by the team management by picking up four wickets, including three in an over, as India registered a thumping 9 wicket win against the hosts.
The 30-year-old mystery spinner, who was playing his first international game in six months, was introduced into the attack soon after the Powerplay and he started off with a tidy over, giving away just four runs.
In his second over, Kuldeep ripped through UAE's middle order, scalping three wickets. He returned to bowl the 14th over and wrapped up the UAE innings with the first ball of the over.
The superlative effort of 4-7 in 2.1 overs saw him bagging the man-of-the-match award, and at the post-match presentation ceremony he got a chance to express his disappointment and question the logic behind his constant omission from the Playing XI.
Sanjay Manjrekar did ask Kuldeep that uncomfortable question but with careful wording.
'There is one thing I have noticed over the last few years, which is that you don't play each and every game for India, and there are these gaps that you have. But when you come back, you put in these kind of performances. It's always back to your very best. How do you make that up?' Manjrekar queried.
'It was tough for me,' Kuldeep said and as he continued answering, his mic stopped functioning and apart from that one sentence everything else he spoke was inaudible.
Realising that Kuldeep's microphone had developed a glitch, Manjrekar acted swiftly and handed over his devise to the player saying, 'Maybe your mic is not recording everything that you're saying. So let's use this one.'
Though Kuldeep completed the answer, he did not touch upon the 'controversial' topic, instead revealed how he executed his plans to deceive the inexperienced UAE batters.
'Tried to hit the right length and it matters a lot, reading the batters on what they are trying to do. Even today as well, reacting to what the batters would do on the next ball.'
'Thanks to Adrian (Le Roux) the trainer. Was working on my bowling and my fitness as well, everything is going perfectly,' he added.