Mumbai: He is good. He could’ve been great. But at the moment, Kuldeep Yadav is just plain unlucky. Or is he?
He was in the playing 11 discussions right through the England series, but never got a game. The odds were quite good for Kuldeep to play. In four of the five Tests, pitches were on the drier side, batting friendly and England’s batting isn’t at its best against wrist spin.
But India’s left-arm wrist spinner had to warm the benches because head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill felt his coming in as the fourth specialist bowler would extend the tail. It would be easy to flay Gambhir’s tactics. But look at it this way: Kuldeep has played in only two Tests outside the sub-continent over eight years. And none after the 2019 Sydney Test where the then head coach Ravi Shastri said, going forward, Kuldeep would become the first choice spinner overseas.
It’s a reflection of how Ravindra Jadeja, being an automatic pick overseas, has so often canceled the scope for a specialist spinner. The home Tests coming up in October should present Kuldeep an opportunity to press his case. But even there, who is to rule out the team going with an all-round spin-trio of Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel as a combination based on the pitches they chose to go with. It wouldn’t be amusing anymore, perhaps prudent, if Kuldeep started spending more time in the batting nets.
The T20 question
‘Over to T20 cricket then’, Kuldeep might be telling himself. The upcoming T20 Asia Cup will serve as an audition for the 2026 T20 World Cup. That’s where a left-arm wrist spinner should be of value, like he was in the previous edition.
But nothing is straightforward in cricket anymore unless you have earned yourself the badge of being undroppable across conditions. Kuldeep knows that he isn’t there yet. While he was recovering from a groin injury and later focused on the ODI Champions Trophy, Varun Chakravathry emerged as India’s premier T20 spinner. The mystery bowler has been the leading wicket-taker in India’s last three bilateral series, picking up 31 wickets in 12 T20Is.
With his large assortment of deliveries and variations, Chakravarthy has been able to cast a spell over quality batters of late in a format where dot balls sometimes carry the same weight as wickets.
There is a silver lining, though, for Kuldeep. There may still be a chance for his guile to shine. India’s bowling plans have seen a distinct change under Gambhir’s watch, with a lot more spin being employed than before. In the previous three series, Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi played several matches together. Neither of them are much of a batting resource. This, even as one of Washington Sundar and Axar Patel also got game time. If India sticks to this spin-heavy approach, Chakravathry and Kuldeep could combine in Dubai and try to repeat the dose in the Asia Cup, like in the Champions Trophy. That’s if Kuldeep makes the squad ahead of Bishnoi, which he should, for his superior strike rate.
Other than Gambhir being a big believer in mystery spin – think of Sunil Narine-Chakravarthy bowling in tandem at KKR – the other reason India have relied heavily on spinners recently is because of Jasprit Bumrah’s absence. They have even made do with Hardik Pandya as the second pacer to accommodate an additional spinner.
With Bumrah returning to the T20 fold, there could yet be a tweak in strategy. The moment they go back to squad balancing with spin-all rounders Washington and Axar, Kuldeep is likely to become the first casualty. Besides, both the leading pacers Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh are unidimensional, elongating the tail.
Which leaves the UP spinner with only one choice, to make every opportunity he gets… count. A prerequisite for wrist spinners is to have a big heart; of being able to bounce back after being taken to the cleaners. Of trying to land the ball on the target area, immediately after missing the mark. Kuldeep has done it before – learned to impart more revolutions on the ball at a greater speed, changed the trajectory of his bowling run-up. Those were technical changes that came after months of rehearsal.
All he now wants is a chance to play. And when he gets one, he must be able to showcase his USP. Like in the ODI format, where he is one of the few spinners who holds his own when the slog is on.
Chakravarthy may be competition for Kuldeep, less experienced. But if he wanted to draw inspiration, there is much to admire from his career path – come in as a late bloomer with no reputation with the bat or in the field, but by dint of his knotty bowling to become a crucial piece in India’s T20 gameplan.
