What makes Kuldeep Yadav so hard to score of
There could be many who can argue and perhaps endlessly so that a left arm spinner, popularly known as the Chinaman, is always harder to face; maybe more than other traditional bowlers whose craft is rooted in regular spin or pace.
Gifted with the natural knack of developing a specific angle with which the deliveries are brought in to trouble batsmen, whether left or right handed, the Chinamen are the vexed reality of a batsman’s life.
You don’t want to face them. They, more or less, present a statutory warning: handle them at their own risk.
Just that modern day batsmen happen to dread facing a bowler who happens to be a Chinaman from India.
His name is Kuldeep Yadav and picking wickets for fun comes natural to him.
It excites him. Bringing about the downfall of the batters is his A game. One could argue, it’s the way he plays. And he’s not going to change come what may.
India, truth be told, would quite like that in what’s to come up ahead; and what lies ahead is something far more intricate and complex as challenge than even facing the Aussies in a limited overs series: the cricket World Cup.
And Kuldeep Yadav has been picked in the squad.
Moreover, going by recent form, it already seems just the right from India’s point of view.
Probing batsmen’s technique and exposing chinks in their armour akin to a constantly harassing cop out for a dreary investigation, Kuldeep Yadav has actually taken the Asia Cup 2023 by a storm.
His most recent bowling performances have cast serious doubts over the batting capabilities of sub continental teams that, lest it is forgotten, are playing in the subcontinent.
But frankly speaking, Kuldeep Yadav being among the wickets is not the only buzzing news or differentiating factor of the ongoing Asia Cup.
It’s the very fact that in a tournament where Babar first up and later, KL Rahul and Kohli slammed their way into big runs, a bowler made his mark amid the presence of some heavy duty names.
That it happens to be the somewhat shy, often underrated and even, unsung Kuldeep Yadav is all the more special.
Special akin to his very special bowling figures that post the completion of the games against Pakistan (first) and later, Sri Lanka read 9 for 68.
As a matter of factly, Kuldeep, on his own, brought down half of the Pakistani batting line up courtesy a silvery fifer whose stinging bite the visiting team could never recover from.
On a day where India were fluent with the bat akin to a piedpiper presenting one mellifluent run after another, Kuldeep found a way to entrap Pakistan in a web of his deception.
A fifer, just the second of his career and a personal best result against India’s mighty opponents, ensued.
What it did was that it put a complete stoppage on runs that were otherwise expected to flow as naturally from the bat of redoubtable men such as Rizwan and Babar (and company) as water flows through taps.
But speaking purely in terms of the impact that the spinner from Kanpur creates, the art goes far beyond the spin generated on the 22-yard-turf.
Kuldeep Yadav excels by dragging batsmen into the frustrating den of one dot delivery too many.
In the nearly 750 odd overs he has bowled in white ball one day international cricket, Kuldeep has deceived many and quietened the bats of many more.
So far, having played a little more than half a decade, Yadav has only conceded 3,800 plus runs in the format.
What’s more?
The key to his success, a story we could really say a lot about but don’t often do, is the ability to take wickets regularly.
A cliche? Well, not exactly.
From the time of his debut to the present day, Kuldeep Yadav has represented Indian team in no fewer than 29 one day international series’.
And only one solitary occasion did he emerge wicketless: the 2019-2020 one day series against England wherein he conceded 152 runs from 19 overs on the whole.
As for the rest, Kuldeep’s played the hunter, not the hunted, on all other occasions.
22 of his 146 ODI wickets came in his debut year of playing the format. Next year, he’d double the tally and claim 45 dismissals.
Then came 2019, the year of one day cricket’s most recent World Cup; and here too, Kuldeep was the pick of the spinners grabbing 32 from 23 games.
On the whole, 99 of Kuldeep Yadav’s 146 one day wickets came in the first three years of him representing India in the format.
But just as remarkably, while he averaged 27 with the ball last year, picking 12 from 8 limited overs games, his bowling average this year has been rather suffocating for the batsmen to bear.
This year, Kuldeep’s bowling average, would you believe it, stands at 16 as we speak?
With an action that’s gained a few nips of speed and the high arm roll up that dwarfs the hope of men to smash the white ball, Kuldeep’s growing in confidence as also in the wickets tally.
And while that’s outrightly dangerous for India’s opponents, it’s just the thing that the hosts of ODI cricket’s biggest extravaganza of 2023 need. Isn’t it?
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[…] KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur/Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit […]