Kuldeep Yadav intensifies training ahead of 2025 Champions Trophy
What's the story
Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav is ramping up his training as he recovers from a groin injury.
The left-arm unorthodox spinner was ruled out of the Test series against New Zealand and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 series in Australia due to the injury.
He has been undergoing rehabilitation at the BCCI Centre of Excellence since the end of the New Zealand series.
Training update
Yadav shares training video ahead of team announcement
Yadav recently posted a video on his official Instagram handle, highlighting his intense nets training.
This comes ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy team announcement.
The spinner's last ODI appearance for India was against Sri Lanka in August 2024, and he has been missing from the format since.
In his career, Yadav has played 106 ODIs and taken 172 wickets at an average of 26.00 with an economy of 4.99.
Squad delay
India's squad announcement for Champions Trophy delayed
Meanwhile, the Indian team is yet to announce their squad for the upcoming 2025 Champions Trophy.
Reportedly, the delay is due to fitness concerns over two bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Yadav.
The BCCI had sought an extension from the ICC for the squad announcement, which was due on January 12.
However, teams can change their provisional squads until February 13.
Fitness concerns
Uncertainty over Yadav's fitness for Champions Trophy
As Yadav continues to recover, there's no official word on his fitness. It remains to be seen if he will be included in the squad for the prestigious ICC event.
Other spinner options include Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakaravarthy, who both played under current head coach Gautam Gambhir at KKR and LSG respectively.
Among the three spinners, Yadav is the most experienced with 15 wickets from 11 matches in the 2023 ODI World Cup.