Kuldeep Yadav was once a part of a fantastic duo in the Indian team. The duo though was broken when the Englishmen carved the leg-spinners at Birmingham during the 2019 World Cup. While the England batters broke the duo in that game, Kuldeep Yadav’s damage started a few months earlier.

He conceded 27 runs against Moeen Ali, who completely trashed the young Chinaman bowler. That moment turned out to be a turning point in Kuldeep Yadav’s career as he found himself out of the Kolkata Knight Riders eleven shortly after. His poor run began and continued as Kuldeep Yadav was in and out of both the Indian team and Kolkata Knight Riders line-up.

From 2017 to 2019, Kuldeep Yadav was a bowler who picked up wickets in the middle overs with ease. His action and style of bowling made him tough to read, but here he was a few years later on the bench. He was benched for the entire IPL 2021 after being a key member of the Knight Riders team in his initial years. He went on to suffer a knee injury as well which needed an operation, and after missing the rest of the series, KKR decided to not retain him as he moved to the Delhi Capitals.

Now with the Delhi Capitals after a fair break, Kuldeep Yadav looks like a man on a mission. He has worked on his bowling, and is now using a lot more body into his action. In four wins for the Delhi Capitals Yadav was the man of the match in all of the wins, and is now a key member of the franchise after starting the season with the prospect of being on the bench for a considerable period.

He wrecked the Kolkata Knight Riders, taking four wickets in three overs. He was unfortunate to miss out on a five-for though with Rishabh Pant turning to his pacers for the death overs. Through his spell, Yadav was tough to read and he bought out his bag of tricks as he cleverly set-up Andre Russell before dismissing him. He finished the game with some key wickets and completely broke the Kolkata Knight Riders, showing his old franchise what they missed in the last two seasons.

He was a go to wicket-taker for the Knight Riders for a considerable time and is now doing the job nicely for Delhi Capitals, playing a crucial role in their four wins. Compared to previous seasons, Yadav has made a few changes. For starters, his pace has increased as Yadav is getting closer to the late 80s as opposed to sticking with speeds in the early 80 KMPH mark. His release point has also got faster, allowing him to use more body on the ball and also attain more revoloutions allowing for better spin.

With the Delhi Capitals, Kuldeep Yadav also has a sense of freedom. In KKR, with Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, there was decent competition and the pressure didn’t help Kuldeep Yadav. With the Delhi Capitals, Yadav has the confidence that he will remain in the line-up. He also has an interesting bowling partner in Axar Patel, who helps by drying up the runs with an accurate line and length, finishing his spell economically resulting in batters going after the likes of Yadav a touch harder.

While Axar Patel has been a good spin partner for Yadav so far, Yadav will be pleased to see how his other partner is going. Yuzvendra Chahal has also been among the wickets. Both bowlers were once India’s pillars in the bowling attack for white-ball cricket, but fell away due to a bad game and lack of batting skills resulting in a long tail.

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With the T20 World Cup coming up though, and with India struggling in the previous World Cup to make inroads, KulCha may get another go. They are aggressive and wicket-taking bowlers and despite lacking the batting skills, their value through their wickets will still be crucial. They are currently the two leading wicket takers this season, and are enjoying a rich vein of form in a wonderful time with the World Cup around the corner.