Kuldeep Yadav

A dewy-eyed aspiring left-arm fast bowler with a build ill-suited for the job joined an academy in Kanpur with big dreams of becoming the next Zaheer Khan for India. After a considerable period of time, Kuldeep and his coach Kapil Pandey realised that his talents did not align with the task. Consequently, he was advised to take Robert Frost’s 'road less travelled’ - slow left-arm unorthodox, or wrist-spin.

Kuldeep, a rare breed of left-arm wrist-spin bowlers in the modern day, had revived the art out of its grave along with a handful of other young players. He set the 2014 Under-19 World Cup alight by becoming India's leading wicket-taker in the tournament, adding the distinction of becoming the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in the history of the tournament, considered to be a watershed for the Indian youth and started to attract the eye of the selectors. With regard to his potential, Kuldeep was given more exposure in the 2016 Duleep Trophy and he once again bamboozled the clueless batsmen. The young spinner ended the tournament with 17 wickets in three matches and played a major role in leading his side to the final of the tournament - a commendable feat for an alleged rookie.

Despite getting limited opportunities, Kuldeep’s traditional guile and equally unconventional style was now gaining recognition at the national level and he had delivered enough performances of substance to get a call-up to the Indian squad for the home Tests against Australia in 2017. He was handed the coveted Test cap by wrist spin wizard Anil Kumble in Dharamsala. Replacing an injured Virat Kohli, the young man comprehensively foxed the experienced Australian batsmen, who were clearly caught by surprise by the selection. Yadav finished with four wickets on debut, laying the platform for a decisive Indian win as the Border-Gavaskar trophy returned to India.

Yadav didn’t have to wait too long for his ODI call-up, making his first pyjama appearance during the tour of West Indies in mid-2017. He was the joint highest wicket-taker on this tour, and was shockingly overlooked for the first three ODIs in Sri Lanka. He made a return in the final two matches and the subsequent Australia series, in which he made a statement (albeit metaphorically) that dropping him was a mistake, with a hat-trick against the Aussies; the first for India in ODIs since Kapil Dev and Chetan Sharma, more than 2 decades previously. His Test debut came just a year later in 2018 and he picked up a fifer on debut against the West Indies.

Although not the world’s fittest athlete, Kuldeep evolved as a bowler and learnt the tricks of the trade to exhibit his application extremely well, especially in the ODI leg of the tour of South Africa in early 2018, where he used his stock ball to good effect to run through one of the best limited-overs batting line-ups in the world, and also used his enigmatic googly sparingly such that even the most accomplished batsmen failed to pick his wrong’un from the hand. With the ability to deceive the batsmen in the air and above the eye level and the cunning ability to use the width of the crease, Kuldeep displayed all the elements required to lead a potential left-arm wrist-spin revolution having resurrected a dying art; much like his blonde, scheming right-handed counterpart gave a new lease of life to his art in the early nineties.

He performed consistently in limited-overs cricket and paired with fellow wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, the duo were a force to reckon with. Their attacking wrist-spin added a new dimension to India’s fabled spin attack and the iconic ‘Kulcha’ phrase was born. Their continued ransacking of opposing batting line-ups were so impressive that they managed to keep the senior spin-duo of Ashwin and Jadeja out of the limited-overs side between 2018 and 2020. Kuldeep also found himself in India’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Things, however, took a turn for the worse thereafter. With wrist-spin being the rage around the world at the time, batters started playing against them more and more and Kuldeep’s aura of mystery had seemingly been unveiled. He struggled to pick wickets and returned expensive figures and India’s outlook towards their spinners changed. Instead of being paired with Chahal, Kuldeep found himself competing with his now former bowling partner as India reverted to preferring at least one finger-spinner. He was criticised for his lack of pace and for being one-dimensional. It didn’t help that he suffered a series of injuries, including a knee injury that required surgery and that kept him out of the Indian team for a prolonged period.

However, Kuldeep returned strong. Fit and ready, he was ready to prove all those who had written him off wrong. He made his Test comeback in an away Test series against Bangladesh in 2022 and picked up 8 wickets in what was a Player of the Match worthy performance. Strangely though, he was dropped for the following game as the team looked to put out a different team-combination. He didn’t let that deter him as he made the most of the few opportunities he got. In South Africa’s tour to India in October 2022, Yadav was the wrecker-in-chief when he claimed figures of 4-18 to restrict South Africa to just 99 in the 3rd ODI. While still not cementing his spot as a regular like he did previously, Kuldeep ensured that he was always in the reckoning in all three formats when India were looking for a unique spin-option.

IPL through the years

Yadav was handed an Indian Premier League contract in 2012 by the Mumbai Indians, but he failed to make the playing XI in his debut season, despite making headlines for beating Sachin Tendulkar with his googly in the nets. He was transferred to the Kolkata Knight Riders two years later, but still failed to play a game.

In IPL 2016, Kuldeep was given his due by the KKR franchise and he didn't disappoint. The slow-left arm bowler picked up 6 wickets from 3 games. But the presence of Brad Hogg limited his chances. Having been retained for 40 lakhs ahead of the 2017 IPL, KKR decided to invest more in their potent weapon. And Kuldeep shone as well, picking up 12 wickets from 12 games. Year 2018 saw him making rapid strides at the international level and IPL also saw him creating ripples. He got his first Man of the Match award in an IPL game in the same edition as well. Against RR, Kuldeep bowled a bamboozling spell of 4 for 20 to script a fine win for KKR.

His dip in performance at the international level, however, was expounded at the IPL. He saw poor returns in the 2019 season after he picked up only 4 wickets from 9 games at an economy rate of 8.66 and his performance in 2020 was by far his worst. Failing to make an impact, Kuldeep found himself dropped from KKR’s playing XI after picking up just 1 wicket from 4 games. He was benched in the first half of the 2021 season and was ruled out of the rest due to a knee injury. He made a roaring return to form, however, when he was picked up by the Delhi Capitals in 2022. It was his performance at this IPL, 21 wickets from just 14 games, that put him back on the map after spending a couple of years in relative oblivion. He was retained by the Capitals for the 2023 edition of the tournament.

by Rishi Roy and Anurag Hegde