Kuldeep Yadav would have been happy had the pitches he bowls on been as uneven as his career. The Kanpur-born left-arm wrist spinner went from being the future of Indian spin with Kul-Cha partner, leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, to being dropped from the Indian team and benched by his IPL team, Kolkata Knight Riders, for most of a season. Now, weeks before the ODI World Cup at home, he could well be India’s first-choice spinner, given his form. He is India’s leading wicket taker in ODIs this year—31 wickets—and has become the fastest Indian spinner to get 150 ODI wickets.
Yadav might be a “mystery” bowler, but there is no mystery behind the fact that he thrives when he knows that his captain and coach back him completely. That backing was missing, surprisingly at times, under the leadership of Virat Kohli and the then team management. “I always believed I had the talent and skill, [but I was not] mentally strong,” he said a few months ago. “That affected my skills [and] kept [me] under pressure; [there were] negative thoughts.”
Having started his career in 2017, Yadav was quick off the blocks in the shorter formats, especially in ODIs, and became the fastest Indian spinner to 100 ODI wickets in 2019. However, that year was a disappointment on the whole. He had a bad IPL season, in which he picked only four wickets in nine matches. He then had an average outing in the ODI World Cup in England, and slowly went off the boil, culminating in two horrid IPL seasons—in the 2020 edition, he got only five games and just a solitary wicket; he did not get a match in the 2021 season and also picked up a knee injury, which kept him out for seven months.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
