“Yes, we got the information that Kuldeep sustained a nasty knee injury during a practice session in UAE. Apparently while fielding, he twisted his knee and it was really bad at that point. There was no chance that he could have taken any further part and was sent back to India,” a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying to PTI.
Notably, the spinner recently uploaded a photo on Twitter with KKR head coach Brendon McCullum, who is celebrating his 40th birthday today. It is believed that this picture is old as Kuldeep has already returned home.
“That’s obviously an old photograph. Kuldeep has come back to India. If I am not wrong, he is already done with his surgery,” the source said.
Things changed drastically from the left-hander since IPL 2019 when he had a dip in the form. His career went southwards as the Indian team management also lost faith in his abilities even on a rank turner in Ranchi, where classical left-arm orthodox spinner Shahbaz Nadeem was picked into the final XI from the stand-by ahead of Kuldeep.
The 26-year-old last represented his national team on the Sri Lanka tour in July, but it was a mediocre performance with the best figures of 2/48 in the first ODI game and 2/30 in the 2nd T20I. Kuldeep played two more games during that tour – an ODI and a T20I – where he went wicket-less.
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