Bangladesh vs India: Kuldeep Yadav's ouster is just another sign of India's chaotic selection process

However, the Indian team management did what no one expected: drop Kuldeep Yadav and bring Jaydev Unadkat into the side. 

The idea of dropping a spinner for a seamer on a deck that has consistently assisted spin was in itself daft. The fact that Kuldeep had secured a five-wicket haul in the Test before this one made the decision look even worse. 

And while skipper KL Rahul did say the decision was an 'unfortunate' one, it did not stop people from tearing into the call – including former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar. 

The former batsman, who is currently commentating on the series, said he could not believe such a call had been made in the first place. 

"Dropping a Man of the Match, is unbelievable. That's the only word I can use, and it's a gentle word," he said in the air. 

"I would like to use relatively more powerful words, but it's unbelievable that you left out a man of the match, who got eight out of the 20 wickets.

"You have got two other spinners. So surely, one of the other spinners could have been dropped. But this guy, who took 8 wickets should have played today with due respect to what the pitch looks like." 

The Chattogram Test was Kuldeep's first in over a year, as his previous Test match cap came against England back in early 2021. 

And it continued an unfortunate trend in his career – of performing well but never getting the chance to follow up and make the place his own. 

The reason this has been the case comes down to India's flawed selection policy. Or, to be specific, one that overly favours seniority over meritocracy. 

India felt the need to drop one spinner, and the fall guy was not Ravichandran Ashwin – who had a quiet game at Chattogram. 

And it was not Axar Patel, who only looked threatening in the game's second innings when any ball with a few revs on it was spinning well. 

No, it was Kuldeep – and the only reason this was the case was his relatively junior stature in the team. 

If this were Ashwin or Axar who put in such a performance, they would never be dropped. But Kuldeep, unfortunately, or otherwise, was. 

But the team tends to keep on star players even when they have not performed well for the past few years. 

And in this case, Kuldeep was the unfortunate victim. He has done nothing wrong; in his 8 Test matches, he's taken 34 wickets, which includes three five-wicket hauls, two four-wicket hauls and two three-wicket hauls. 

But he has only played in two Tests since 2019 – one against England at home and one away to Bangladesh. And both games were played a year apart. 

Yet one feels it will only matter once the team has no long-term replacement. Until then, it may be too late to salvage what is left of Kuldeep's Test career.