Kuldeep Yadav Finds Rhythm Again in Asia Cup

A Journey of Resurgence

Mid-June in Beckenham, Kuldeep Yadav stood on the sidelines of India's warm-up game and assessed the pitch. He thought it looked good for spinners, dry with just enough bite and bounce. This was a five-Test series against England; with no Ravichandran Ashwin in the squad, Kuldeep seemed to have allowed himself a little hope.

The pitches, however, were exactly that: dry, flat, crying out for something wild. India had the wild thing, but Kuldeep never got a game. He had reworked his bowling, straightened his run-up, and made his rhythm more aggressive. That journey of making himself a technically better, more sustainable bowler at the highest level was behind him.

The Shift in Dynamics

But none of that was enough. Not when the question was balance. India now like their allrounders, finger spinners who could defend the red ball better and hit the white ball longer. Flat tracks may demand magic, but team sheets rarely do.

This irony followed Kuldeep to the Asia Cup. Few expected him to play, but the Gautam Gambhir-coached side loves its spinners in limited-overs cricket. Kuldeep's last T20I was in the World Cup final in Barbados; now he has six wickets in 24 balls, including Player of the Match awards against UAE and Pakistan.

The Turning Point

"It's challenging when you're not playing," Kuldeep said during the Asia Cup. "Rhythm is very important when you are playing your first game after a while." However, in the match against UAE, Kuldeep's rhythm was a non-issue. He started with a tight over before unleashing in his next. Three wickets fell in the space of an over, showcasing the full range of wrist spin at play.

Against Pakistan, the field told the story: slip, leg slip, silly mid-on. Kuldeep was on a hat-trick, and then, off the next ball, Mohammad Nawaz trapped first ball by the googly. He reviewed; three reds on the screen. Out.

The Road to Success

"Just like that, Kuldeep has six wickets already in the tournament," his captain Suryakumar Yadav said after the Pakistan match. "He couldn't get an opportunity to play but he was working really hard on his fitness, on his bowling and you can see it."

Kuldeep, while picking his second PoTM award, insisted that he is still not bowling his best and that he's been using "too many variations". But the numbers are what they are. The variations of pace, the line of his googly, and the energy on the ball has done the trick.

The Wild Art of Wrist Spin

That's the thing with wrist spin. It can go wrong, but then again, it can also go very right. Flat pitches demand it. India resisted it in England but they couldn't in Dubai. And given the chance to be back in India colours, Kuldeep has made every over count, just as he thought he might back in Beckenham, staring at a pitch, waiting for his chance.