Kuldeep Yadav isn’t in India’s plans right now but his bowling figures are making that decision harder for Gautam Gambhir and selectors to defend by the day.
On Thursday, September 10, the left-arm spinner produced the best figures of his First-Class career, picking up 10 wickets for 120 runs in Yorkshire’s dominant win over Essex in the County Championship. He took four wickets for 70 runs in the first innings, followed by six for 50 in the second, a match-winning performance from start to finish.
The pitch at Headingley turned out to be perfect for spin. Yorkshire posted 390 runs, with Kuldeep Yadav himself chipping in 36 off 94 balls, before his bowling ran through Essex twice, bundling them out for 171 and 113 to hand his side a comfortable 106-run victory.
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Speaking to a channel afterward, Kuldeep Yadav explained what made the surface so effective for his bowling. He said the pace already built into the pitch meant he didn’t need to bowl fast himself, once the ball pitched, there was enough zip off the surface that all he had to focus on was spinning it hard and generating revs. He contrasted this with conditions back home, where pitches tend to be slower and batsmen often find ways to adjust to the turn.
In England, he said, the extra pace off the pitch means batsmen who try to play off the back foot get trapped, often forcing them onto the front foot instead, which opens up more chances of catches behind the stumps, in the slips, or at short leg.
Well played Kuleep Yadav!
