MUMBAI: At the start of the World Cup, if anyone had said that spinners would thrive in the tournament because of the conditions that are expected to be on offer in India, it would have been seen as a logical assessment. What has happened, however, is something else. While Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa leads the charts with 22 wickets, seven of the next nine names on the list are pacers.
For India, after Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Ravindra Jadeja, comes Kuldeep Yadav — 13th on the overall list of wicket-takers. His numbers — 9 games, 14 wickets, 22.28 average, 4.15 economy — might not read as ridiculous as those of Bumrah (17 wickets at an average of 15.64) or Shami (16 wickets, ave 9.56) or even Jadeja (16 wickets, ave 18.25). But what Kuldeep has done in this World Cup for India is far more significant.
One look at a few of his victims — David Warner, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Iftikhar Ahmed, Tanzid Tamim, and Jos Buttler — sums it up. Most of them were set batters, taking the momentum away from India or those who could have changed the fortunes of the respective teams in a short span of time. Kuldeep has been the partnership breaker of sorts while also doubling down on impact when a new batter walks in.
Numbers and impact apart, what has been the most impressive trait of Kuldeep this World Cup is the way he has held himself even when things were not going his way. The last time India played New Zealand, Daryl Mitchell made it a point to take on Kuldeep and hit him into the stands. Unfazed by the counterattack, Kuldeep adapted to the situation and came back stronger in his last spell of that game. Ask him how he has managed to do that, Kuldeep keeps it simple without giving much away.
“Sometimes the batter can get over, but you have to change your tactics quickly and that is what I did in Dharamsala. I thought the wicket was pretty flat there, with no spin and small ground, always better for the batter to go straight. Sometimes you have to change the line and length to make them guessing and that is what I did,” he said after the game against Netherlands in Bengaluru.
In hindsight, as you hear it from an elite athlete, it might look easy. However, it isn’t. Not even for Kuldeep. In the past, he has struggled to hold his nerves when the batters successfully took him on. He wasn’t as confident as he is now, often losing the plot and leaking more runs. It led to a phase in which he was not a regular in the playing XI. The injuries didn’t help either. It all started to change when Rohit Sharma took over. Shortly after he became full-time captain, Sharma threw his weight behind Kuldeep and reiterated that the wrist-spinner is going to be a vital cog in the side going forward.
As he was selected and given opportunities consistently, the difference started to show. That he has taken 47 wickets in 25 innings at 17.89 average and 4.49 economy in 2023 is a testament to that. India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey credited the spinner for putting in all the work.
“As a bowler, you got to have the self-realisation, the areas I need to work on and I think that the conversations we had with him and we have been having for a long time now. He has worked on it and made the technical changes and you could see that in his bowling,” Mhambrey had said recently.
The on-field confidence from Kuldeep’s performances is now reflecting in his off-field conversations as well. As India finished their league stage with nine wins in as many games, the wrist-spinner, while being aware of the challenges of bowling to New Zealand at the Wankhede, was confident of the challenge that lies ahead for him and the team as they take on the side that knocked them out of the last World Cup.
“We have played a lot of bilateral series after that, so we know the conditions (in India) and so do they. Our preparation has been good, and we have been able to play good cricket throughout the tournament. So, we expect to continue in the same vein in the next match as well,” said Kuldeep.
As for his plans, the spinner stuck to the similar things he had spoken about while admitting that early wickets will be crucial in what has been a batting paradise in this World Cup. On Thursday, whether India come out on the right side of the result or not, one thing is for sure. Kuldeep and the Men in Blue know what they need to do and they are ready for it.
