Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has picked veteran Indian wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav as his best all-format spinner at present, despite the latter not being a consistent presence in the XI across all formats.
Speaking on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast, Clarke showered praise on the veteran spinner, who scalped 369 wickets across three formats in 194 games, including nine five-wicket hauls. Notably, Kuldeep is part of the Indian ODI and Test squads.
“There are very few spinners playing all three formats. I think Kuldeep Yadav is the best all-format spinner in the world at the moment. He’s a very good short-form bowler. But he’s not getting enough opportunities. Though I think he’ll play for India against Australia,” Clarke said on the podcast.
Kuldeep, who made his Test debut in March 2017 against Australia at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, bagged his ODI and T20I caps later in June 2017 and July 2017, respectively. However, the wrist spinner has been overlooked in the shortest format of the game, having last played against Pakistan in February 2026.
On the other hand, former England spinner Monty Panesar, who is also part of the same conversation, has picked South African veteran Keshav Maharaj as his best all-format spinner at present.
“The best spinner for me is Keshav Maharaj, just by the way he is bowling at the moment. He has got it on a string and attacks and defends equally well,” Panesar said on the same podcast.
Maharaj, who made his Test debut in November 2016 against Australia, has scalped 350 wickets in 173 matches at an average of under 29, including 13 five-wicket hauls. He made his ODI debut in May 2017 against England and his T20I debut in September 2021 against Sri Lanka.
