The road to Indian cricket stardom has been rocky for Kuldeep Yadav. The 28-year-old, who had a promising start to his international career and was once being looked at as India’s foremost wrist spinner, fell under the national selectors’ radar and was even overlooked by the Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2021 IPL season.
But he has bounced back, and how.
Kuldeep has now become a mainstay in the Indian limited-overs side and was a default choice for the 15-member ODI World Cup squad announced on Tuesday.
The left-armer edged out fellow wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and senior pro Ravichandran Ashwin, and for good reason. Kuldeep has scalped 23 wickets from 13 ODIs this year so far, which is the most by any Indian bowler.
So how did he turn things around?
The Uttar Pradesh bowler needed the guidance of someone who has been there and done that to take things to the next level, and that is where Sunil Joshi stepped in.
Joshi, himself a prime left-arm spinner for India in his heyday, took Kuldeep under his tutelage and helped him his hone his craft at the National Cricket Academy.
"In fact, I was in the selection panel when Kuldeep went down the line. It was not a pleasant sight to see a talented bowler going down. So, we met at the NCA and prepared a path ahead," Joshi told PTI.
As per the former India tweaker, Kuldeep not only needed to change things up technically, but also lift himself mentally.
The duo got together and gritted it out at the NCA nets. "We were mainly focusing on technical aspects like reducing his strides, increasing his arm speed so that he can bowl a bit quicker through the air. His action and approach to the bowling crease needed to be rectified," said Joshi.
As Kuldeep’s fortunes fluctuated, his rhythm too suffered, leading to a lack of zip and accuracy which made him easy fodder for opposition batters. Joshi helped him redirect his focus and Kuldeep paid good heed to the advice.
"He was not having focus then, and was bowling all over, everywhere. But now, if you observe, he lines up batters well – his bowling arm is right in front of the batters, and even his strides are directed at them," said Joshi.
The improved showings and renewed confidence mean Kuldeep is likely to be skipper Rohit Sharma’s go-to bowler in the ODI WC, believes Joshi. "He has this ability to take the ball away from the left-handers, and he needs to use his stock ball (one that comes in if a batter is right-handed) against them. It will be handy for India because many teams have two or three left-handers in their batting order.”
The former international added: “While bowling against the right-hander, Kuldeep will have to make use of that one that goes away from them (the wrong'un), as it will keep them in doubt."
Joshi said the Indian team should make full use of Kuldeep’s penchant for picking up wickets in the middle overs. "He is a wicket-taking bowler, who will come in very handy in the middle-overs.
Bowlers like (Ravindra) Jadeja or Axar (Patel) purchase wickets by limiting the run flow, thereby building pressure. But Kuldeep can pick up wickets under any conditions just by his variations. So, it will be exciting to watch him in the World Cup," he added.
According to Kuldeep’s childhood coach Kapil Pandey, his ward’s determination paved the way ahead for him. "He was heartbroken. Forget about playing for India, he was not even getting game-time with KKR.
It is important for a bowler to keep working on his skills to improve his craft. But he was not ready to give up and kept training with me for a long time at the nets. We worked on many things like delivery speed etc that could help his bowling,” Pandey told PTI.
Changing his IPL franchise from KKR to Delhi Capitals also worked like a charm for Kuldeep in this period. Pandey said: "Kuldeep was telling me that he received plenty of backing at DC from (head coach) Ricky Ponting and assured him of good enough game-time. It is important for a bowler to have the support of captain and coach, and that's why I think he excelled under MS Dhoni."
(With PTI input)
