After India’s decisive victory over Pakistan at the Motera the other night, a riveting television discussion on a Pakistani channel unfolded, featuring some of the brightest cricketing minds in the country. Wasim Akram, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, and Moin Khan, all accomplished cricketers, analysed and dissected Kuldeep Yadav‘s bowling threadbare.
The conversation was deep, incisive, evocative, critical and unforgiving of the Pakistan batters’ approach to India’s left-arm wrist spinner. “Tang Karega (he would trouble us),” said Akram. “I had warned. I’ve been emphasizing since the Asia Cup that Kuldeep would pose a challenge to us. He would tangle us up… It’s a shame that the think tank didn’t heed to my calls,” he lamented. “We should have considered taking a couple of left-arm spinners for the World Cup with the team.”
Kuldeep returned figures of 2 for 35 in his allocation and largely tied the Pakistani batters to the crease.
Kuldeep has been nemesis of the Pakistan team, his wicket of Babar Azam in the 2019 World Cup in Manchester is often cited as one of the finest exhibitions of left-arm wrist spin. He had enticed the batter to the front with his drift and flight and then beat him through the gate to rattle the stumps. It was a classic dismissal and left the Pakistan team in a daze, something that was evident both in their game against India in Asia Cup in Colombo last month and in the World Cup in Ahmedabad last Saturday.
After the 2019 World Cup, Misbah, who assumed the roles of coach and selector for the Pakistan team, made efforts to familiarize his batsmen with left-arm wrist spin. “After the 2019 World Cup, during the series against Sri Lanka, I went to the extent of selecting four left-arm leg spinners for our practice sessions, including Faisal Akram. I had them practice with bowlers announcing each ball before delivery. However, despite our preparations, Wanindu Hasaranga (the wrist spinner from Sri Lanka), had emerged as the highest wicket-taker of the series. If you can’t handle spinners effectively, you play them through V,” Misbah remarked.
Malik, known for his straightforward approach, advocated a bold approach. “If you don’t make the spinner fear you, he’ll make you fear him,” the former Pakistan skipper said. “Batters need to be bold and step out. But our batters seemed apprehensive about getting stumped. They were on the defensive, rather than taking an attacking stance. Timid.”
A common strategy when facing spinners is to step out, play inside out, or attempt a sweep. However, employing these tactics against Kuldeep has proven to be quite challenging. His ability to impart drift, control the trajectory, and generate revolutions on the ball leaves batters perplexed. Furthermore, his knack for bowling with pace and a flatter trajectory keeps the batters on their toes, making them apprehensive about being dismissed LBW. Kuldeep entices the right-handers with his crafty rev, drift, and trajectory, only to deceive them with sharp spin that turns inward. On the other hand, for a left-hander, the ball moves away, creating the constant possibility of a catch.
Kuldeep’s resurgence, following a temporary dip in form after 2019, has provided Rohit Sharma with a destructive weapon in his bowling arsenal. As a wrist spinner, he possesses the ability to generate turn on a variety of pitches, making him a formidable force. Even on batting-friendly tracks, he can confound batters, as he did to Pakistan in Ahmedabad.
“There may have been some fitness issues that may have caused him to lose his rhythm and, consequently, his confidence, but he’s nearly back to his best now,” Bharat Arun, a former India bowling coach, under whose guidance Kuldeep had delivered that magical ball to Babar in Manchester, told Cricbuzz.
Arun went on to explain the transformation: “Previously, he would aim to maintain an upright posture with a shorter delivery stride. Now, he’s adopted a more dynamic approach, with a longer stride, using his body effectively. This adjustment has allowed him to bowl faster and flatter, making it challenging for batters to execute a slog-sweep against him.”
While people talk of the Manchester wicket, Kuldeep thinks he bowled such balls a few more times also. “That was a good ball and it got hyped because it was a World Cup game but I have got people out with similar deliveries in the bilaterals. As a spinner, you want to bowl these deliveries where batters are absolutely clueless as to which one is turning. That Manchester wicket had nip and bounce. Against good batters, it’s important to bowl in one area and force them to make mistakes. Rhythm gives you confidence,” Kuldeep said after the Pakistan game.
Kuldeep primarily bowls in the 80s, with his pace ranging from 78 kmph to 92 kmph. This speed is effective in sowing seeds of doubt in the batters’ minds before they attempt to sweep his deliveries. A Pakistani analyst has boldly predicted that Kuldeep has a significant chance of becoming the leading wicket-taker in the World Cup (he has five wickets so far, in three games).
Kuldeep hasn’t had the opportunity to bowl under lights when India are defending a total in this World Cup. However, the bowler expressed eagerness to perform in the second innings. He humorously remarked, “My bowling under lights has always been good. I’ve always wanted to bowl second, but what can I do? Rohit bhai doesn’t listen to me; he prefers to bowl first.”
