Kuldeep Yadav: India's new death overs weapon

DUBAI: Amongst the three wickets that Kuldeep Yadav took to take the wind out of the second half of Pakistan's inning son Sunday night at the Dubai International Stadium, the Chinaman bowler's childhood coach Kapil Pandey, watching the match from Kanpur, enjoyed watching the dismissal of Shaheen Shah Afridi, who looked clueless while falling lbw on the backfoot against a googly, the most.
"The batter thought that the ball would spin away from him, but it came back in as Kuldeep changed his wrist position at the last minute for a googly. This is exactly how he had dismissed Joe Root in Nottingham, while taking six for 25 (his career-best ODI haul, in 2018), who too was trapped lbw on the backfoot. I also enjoyed the way he got Salman Agha's wicket-the batter tried to hit him to mid-wicket, but the ball went to the covers. This is what Kuldeep can do. When he's at his best, the batters try to do something against him, but something else happens," a beaming Pandey told TOI from Kanpur.
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Indeed, Kuldeep is turning out to be amongst the many success stories of India's surge in the 2025 Champions Trophy. Rounding off a solid comeback after a groin injury forced him to miss the tour of Australia, Kuldeep, facing stiff competition from mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy to be India's third spinner, justified the faith of the team management in him, taking three for 40 in nine overs to play a crucial role in his team's six-wicket win over Pakistan in a key Group A clash.
"I called him up a day before the match against Pakistan. I told him that he had bowled well in the previous game (0-43 in 10 overs against Bangladesh). I told that was a big match for India, we have to beat Pakistan and for that, he has to bowl really well, bowl on the right 'spot,' and vary the pace of his deliveries. Importantly, I told him to stay relaxed, and not panic at all. If you noticed, they were defensive against him at the start.. I would credit Indian captain Rohit Sharma using him in short bursts (three spells). He trusted him to take wickets in the slog overs, and the move paid off. If Pakistan had scored 280-plus, it could've been a difficult chase," analysed Pandey.
Surely, Kuldeep is blessed is the ability to take wickets, while not giving much to the opposition in the death overs- a make-or-break phase in ODI cricket. On Sunday, the left-arm wrist spinner from Kanpur returned to the attack for his second spell in the 40th over, and finished with three for 17 in four overs, leaving the Pakistan lower-order bamboozled to extinguish all their hopes of a late flourish. It was a fine performance by Kuldeep, after he started off the tournament in a subdued manner, taking 0-43 in 10 overs against Bangladesh.
Talking about his splendid show in the slog overs, Kuldeep revealed that India skipper Rohit Sharma's brief to him was simple: 'Attack and go for wickets.' "The plan was very simple. On a wicket like this, you tend to become the first choice in bowling the last ten overs. The captain felt that it's very difficult to hit against spinners when you have variations. So luckily, it was good for me. The wicket was slow. I was trying to mix with the pace and wrong'uns or top-spin. If you get a couple of wickets in the middle, then (the) batsmen tend to block you. That's what they did in the last ten overs. And the captain told me straight away, 'I want wickets. If you can get me a couple of wickets, that'll be good'," Kuldeep said.
Indeed, the tweaker's ODI record, since his debut against West Indies at Port of Spain on June 23, 2017, is comparable to the best in the business-177 wickets in 110 [email protected], with two five-wicket hauls. While his overall economy rate is 4.98, in the death overs-40-50, it is 6.04.
In the phase that he was injured, Kuldeep saw Varun achieve immense success in T20Is, and there was a clamour for the latter's inclusion in the ODIs too. "Kuldeep was always positive about his comeback, and was happy for Varun. The advantage with Kuldeep is that he has more variations. He can also vary the pace of his deliveries. He is confident about his abilities and is a match-winner. Since the last three years, his bowling has matured a lot, which has made me quite relaxed about him. He has more control than ever before," Pandey praised.
Pakistan are yet to decipher Kuldeep's tricks. In seven ODIs now, the 30-year-old has taken 15 wickets against the 'Men in Green,' at an average of 14.00 and a strike rate of 21.6, with a best haul of five for 25 that came against them in the Asia Cup in September 2023, which helped India score a massive 228-run win over their so-called arch-rivals.
On Sunday, Kuldeep also joined an exclusive club of Indian tweakers to take 300 international wickets, which has just five others-Anil Kumble (953), Ravichandran Ashwin (765), Harbhajan Singh (707) and Ravindra Jadeja (604).