On his first international appearance in England, Kuldeep Yadav demonstrated what a potent weapon his left-arm wrist-spin is
Nagraj Gollapudi at Old Trafford03-Jul-20180:30
Kuldeep all smiles after decisive five-for
The question confronted England straight up: how do you play Kuldeep Yadav? That question will become a nagging one over the summer. England have rarely faced a bowler of Kuldeep’s kind and art: left-arm unorthodox, giving flight, imparting dip, calibrating speed, toying with lengths. With his gifts, Kuldeep takes the pitch out of question.Kuldeep has become an X-factor for teams only because he can execute those skills consistently. Add to that his probing and inquisitive mind. Jos Buttler had torn India apart in the Powerplay. Yuzvendra Chahal, the legspinner, had failed to catch rhythm and changed ends. Virat Kohli was getting impatient.Kuldeep’s very first delivery was swept for four by Buttler. Only one run came from the rest of the over. In those five balls, Kuldeep teased Buttler twice by stopping mid-stride. Buttler was not impressed. Kuldeep didn’t care – he still resorts to a few tricks learned bowling on the streets of Kanpur, his hometown.”England had got off to a good start – they had around 65 runs in six overs,” Kuldeep said. “In the first over I checked the wicket. It was a bit dry. There was a possibility of a little turn, but it didn’t turn to begin with. Chahal told me it was not turning. It was stopping. Accordingly, I varied the pace a little, thinking then I will get a chance. The batsman would need to use his feet, and only then he would find it easy.”According to Kuldeep, the mandatory requirements for a spinner to succeed overseas are length and variations. He has managed to achieve that, since he was difficult to read in South Africa earlier this year, and so far in the UK – where he has got 12 wickets in the three T20Is, including the series against Ireland. “If you want to take wickets you need to get the ball to turn. If you can’t make the ball turn, get drift, then you are not a spinner. You then cannot change the game. If a spinner takes four or five wickets your team gets the upper hand.”Just like Buttler was aware of Kuldeep’s strengths, the Indian understood the areas the Englishman would hit him. So he just wanted to limit Buttler’s scoring areas and restrict him to a single, and attack the other batsmen who have not played him regularly.Buttler had offset any advantage Kuldeep had achieved in his first over by thrashing Hardik Pandya in the following over, from which England got 18 runs. But Kuldeep was aware that Alex Hales was struggling. He knew Hales would go for the big shot if he tossed it up on his legs. In the nets on Monday, Hales had been training for this very ball and was getting bowled. Today his worst fears came true as Kuldeep bowled him round the legs.Kuldeep Yadav gets a high-five from Suresh Raina upon picking a wicket•Associated PressEngland captain Eoin Morgan had a plan for Kuldeep. Morgan is a good player of spin and usually likes to sweep. Morgan knew the square-leg boundary was on the shorter side. He also knew that Kuldeep would slow the pace. Morgan duly swept, but straight into the hands of the fielder in the deep.According to Kuldeep, his plan for the rest of the over was to just pull his pace down while sticking to the same length and using his variations, especially the googly. “When I came for the third over, I reduced the pace and maintained the flight while keeping the length good. I got Morgan the first ball. There onwards, my plan was to make sure they [the batsmen] stretched [to play the ball]. I did not want to give any easy ball. I did not want to add pace to the delivery because that would make it easy.”Jonny Bairstow walked back punchdrunk, stumped. Buttler had a long chat with Joe Root before England’s Test captain faced his first ball. Root too, is a good player of spin, but what do you know? Kuldeep tossed it up, from close to the stumps. Root moved forward, but in an unconvincing fashion. The ball pitched perfectly but bounced high into the grille of MS Dhoni’s helmet, who somehow managed to calmly knock off the bails to send Root back embarrassed.Kuldeep was on a hat-trick for the second time in an international limited-overs match in a space of nine months. A short leg would have swallowed Moeen Ali, but Kuldeep had already destroyed England in his first match in the country. Buttler was left staring in disbelief. Kuldeep agreed it was a “brilliant” over that “turned” the match.England ought to started figuring out how to read Kuldeep’s wrist position, something Sachin Tendulkar pointed out immediately after that three-wicket over. In their first duel with Kuldeep, all the England batsmen barring Buttler played him without reading his hands. If they cannot read his variations and start using their feet, Kuldeep will doubtless continue to nag them.
