Kuldeep Yadav Rises Fast and Straight with a Lot more Consistency

At the start of 2022, Kuldeep Yadav was far from the first-choice wrist-spinner with Yuzvendra Chahal doing the job. After a rapid start to his career, Kuldeep Yadav had his fall early. Moeen Ali’s assault on him in 2019 during the IPL took a toll on the bowler, who started fading after the World Cup. Known for his wicket-taking ability in the middle overs, Kuldeep Yadav turned out to be an easy picking for the batters.

From 2019 to 2021 Kuldeep Yadav was a ghost in the Indian squad. He toured Australia, and despite all the injuries in the Indian camp, he came back without featuring in the Test matches. Against England, he was reduced to a third spinner’s role. The chances and numbers kept dropping. In the IPL, the Kolkata Knight Riders decided to bench him as well with Varun Chakravarthy on the rise in 2020 and 2021.

In the same period, Yuzvendra Chahal came out as a pretty effective wicket-taker, maintaining his skill from the time prior to the 2019 World Cup. With the Indian Team too chances started to go down and Kuldeep Yadav was rotated around with other wrist-spinners tried. In 2022 though Kuldeep Yadav showed signs of a transformation.

Known to fly the ball and bowl in the 70s, Kuldeep Yadav got faster. He was reaching the mid-80s and 90s, and getting a lot of turn like the initial stages of his career. His economy rate dropped down, and the wickets were back. The wickets returned in the middle overs. He got quicker and the trajectory remained the same.

A knee injury in 2021 resulted in surgery which allowed him to restart, starting the transformation. In the 24 games that followed, Kuldeep Yadav picked up 43 wickets, putting more body on the ball. He has 31 wickets this year alone and has left Yuzvendra Chahal behind after proving that he too can take wickets with a solid economy.

An aspect that makes Kuldeep stronger is his form of bowling. In the current World Cup, there are only three left-arm wrist-spinners. Kuldeep Yadav therefore is a part of a unique group with Tabraiz Shamsi and Noor Ahmed, making him a potential trump card for India.