Ever the backup for Ashwin & Jadeja, the spinners are expected to get a go at the expected slow turner at Green Park, the home ground. Kanpur’s favorite cricketer, though, has learned to embrace the uncertainty of staying in the XI.
KANPUR: On a hot and sweaty Wednesday afternoon, local boy Kuldeep Yadav was one of the last players to leave the Indian dressing room for practice. Test against Bangladesh.
At Green Park Stadium has been Kuldeep’s hunting ground since his early years. He is one of the greatest cricketers to come out of Kanpur.
It is worth noting that Kuldeep made his Test debut seven and a half years ago. He also managed to keep the element of mystery on his left wrist. However, he is only 12 tests old, which is a bigger mystery. A return of 53 wickets at an average of 21.05, including four five wickets and three four wickets in these 12 matches, is an impressive return that can give even the best a run for the money.
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However, Kuldeep has always been India’s reserve spinner. He has probably made peace with it. He has gone through more net sessions than actual game time. Kuldeep’s initiation in the Test cricket coinciding with emerging legends Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Despite England’s stellar series at home earlier this year, the team management could not find a place for him in the XI in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai, where the pitch was more for layer bowlers.
During a freewheeling conversation with the media at the team’s hotel in the middle of the IPL earlier this year, Kuldeep had said that a few years ago, he had become egoistic and stiff for change, which caused him to lose form.
Now, a few months shy of turning 30 and immune from such insecurities, he believes he has learned to embrace the fact that he will forever compete with other spinners in India. “There will always be competition between spinners in India, regardless of the format. There will always be four spinners ready to take the field. Now, I am focused on constantly improving myself and ready to look for opportunities when they come,” said Kuldeep.
“When I was struggling at Kolkata Knight Riders four-five years ago, I needed a lot of guidance. Now I feel I don’t need anyone to guide me,” he said.
Bangladesh coach Chandrika Hathurusinghe categorically mentioned that India did not offer turners as the team had three powerful spinners. But the Test that begins on Friday could be different.
With a history of low surface and slow-spinning, the black ground here can still offer a little more kick for spinners. Don’t forget the sprinklers on the pitch, with captain Rohit Sharma and coach Gautam Gambhir hovering over the central square.
That the Indian team management has written a major reservation for BCCI to play in Kanpur is a discussion for another day. Indian tailor Akash Deep reckoned that they should wait another day to see how much pitch dries up before assuming how the surface will play during the Test.
Kuldeep Yadav (ANI Photo)
Will this be the best chance to play Kuldeep regardless of the cloudy conditions during the first three days of the Test? Kuldeep himself is used to uncertainty by now.
In fact, they’ve got the waiting game. And that led to shed his ego, change the run-up and open-up in his delivery stride, allowing him to impart faster on the ball.
“It is difficult to change what I have done for 15 years. There were doubts when I came back from injury and experienced this change a few years ago. I was not sure how it would turn out. But I decided to give myself more time to perfect it and then come back, said Kuldeep.
That patience began to bear fruit and soon he reclaimed his position as India’s leading white-ball spinner last year, before the magical England series took place on flat decks in India this year. As expected, he got the chance.
The series also saw him be a little more steady with the bat down – a feature of his game that saw him fall behind fellow spinners Ashwin, Jadeja and even Axar Patel. That’s why one saw him go through a rather long batting session along with other spinners on Wednesday evening, two days before the Test.
Off the top of my head, it will be a struggle to remember when Kuldeep last turned up for a Test match and didn’t impact the game. That’s why, for the amazing crowd, this wait to find out if they will play can be painful.
