TimesofIndia.com in Chennai: There is not even the slightest doubt that, when he sings, there is nothing better than that Kuldeep Yadav shooting chinaman. The bounce, bounce, jump to the bowling crease, escape, and the revs he gives on the ball are spectacular. But over the years, for various reasons, he could not strengthen his place in the Indian team.Kuldeep’s story has always been fascinating. In the ODI format, he is the highest bowler and is six wickets short of reaching 200 ODI wickets. The 31-year-old has a unique history in the field. He has 194 wickets in 121 matches and takes a wicket every 31 balls. His strike rate is a bit high, but he has always been India’s main wicket-taker in the middle overs.In the ongoing tournament, Kuldeep has played only one game in Lucknow and though he has not batted badly, he has not come close to the track he has hit so often in the past. Manav Suthar and Washington Sundar beat him in the one-off Test against Afghanistan and in the rain-soaked ODI in Dharamsala, Harsh Dubey was picked ahead of him.Ahead of the Chennai ODI, where India are expected to rotate their batting line-up with pacers, the onus will be on Kuldeep to find the starting spot. India’s bowling coach Sairaj Bahutale was in Kuldeep’s ear after nearly every ball he bowled to Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma in the nets.Bahutale kept an eye on Kuldeep, be it his pace, his delivery or the revs he gave on the ball. Kuldeep is brimming with confidence, and the team’s management knows that if India are to do well in the middle of the 2027 ODI World Cup, a lot will depend on one thing or another. No one in this bowling problem has the power like Kuldeep to take wickets against the bowling. Jasprit Bumrah can do it to an extent, but even he can’t be relied upon to deliver those runs between the overs regularly like Kuldeep.
In the pre-match press conference, India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said that the management will continue to support Kuldeep as they believe that he is still India’s trump card.“Wickets are always there, and I thought he bowled well the other night. He hasn’t had a consistent game for a while, even in Test cricket, so there are no real worries about him,” said Doeschate on Kuldeep’s dip in form.“We always like to play a wrist spinner or a mystery spinner. With the way the game is going, the onus is on the spinners to continue to initiate themselves. Kuldeep, along with our other pacers in the Test squad, put in a lot of work on game play and preparing the batsmen. I think Kuldeep is doing well,” he added.The Chennai ODI may not spell Kuldeep Yadav’s future, but it could be the first step towards him regaining the rhythm that has made him India’s biggest wicket-taker in the middle overs. The road to the 2027 ODI World Cup is getting busier from here, India need to fire back the arm spinner. Recently.
