In less than six months, Kuldeep Yadav will turn thirty years old. Despite his age and experience, he still maintains his ego and self-confidence. The die-hard football fan, who grew up watching European football late at night and spending his early adolescence kicking a ball around in parks with friends, still believes he can outsmart players like Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Jurgen Klopp, and Pep Guardiola.
A loss of form and injuries have provided insight and maturity. He is not the young player who disregarded bowling coach Carl Crowe of the Kolkata Knight Riders’ suggestion to focus on his length, as he recounted in a podcast with Ravichandran Ashwin. Kuldeep acknowledges that he was either too fearful or too inflexible to alter his bowling style.
“I had a lot of ego. I was rather confident in my abilities. I used to think I could save anyone’s life. Kuldeep said Ashwin, “I thought what he was saying was not important because I had so much confidence in my skill set.”
He is still eager to unseat the renowned off-spinner as India’s best spinner, and he is sure he can hold his own during the IPL runfests.
But a few years later, a knee surgery that may have ended his career and a decline in form left him at a loss. After being praised as “India’s lead spinner in overseas Tests” by former head coach Ravi Shastri, he dropped to sixth position after Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar in just two years.
Kuldeep needed someone to put a consoling arm around him at that moment. In his podcast, Ashwin mentioned that it took Kuldeep several years to even be honest with him. After MS Dhoni retired, his form for his country fell apart.
“I didn’t play very well with the ball after Dhoni retired. Sometimes you are guided by someone, and when that person’s influence wanes, all of a sudden you are responsible for everything. Kuldeep told The Indian Express, “It takes time for you to react to the situation… that probably happened to me.”
However, the left-arm spinner is fortunate to have located the necessary assistance. He took 21 wickets in 14 matches during his rookie campaign at the Delhi Capitals, captained by Rishabh Pant. Last year, Kuldeep had an ordinary season, claiming 10 scalps in 14 bouts, while Rishabh missed the tournament due to an accident on the route. This year, Rishabh has returned and his performance has improved. He says, “Ye wala achha tha Kullu (This one was nice, Kuldeep).” In his first eight matches, he has already claimed 12 wickets.
Kuldeep has found solace in captain Rohit Sharma within the Indian lineup.
“Rohit bhai has been there for me always. He was in constant contact with me following my injury and made it clear to me what he needed from me. He immediately included me in the team after my injury, Kuldeep stated in a limited media appearance.
Kuldeep laughed, “Now he is after me to improve my batting.” “My batting during the Test series against England impressed him.” I’ve talked to him more about my batting than my bowling over the past year,” he remarked.
Kuldeep and Dhruv Jurel stitched a series-turning 76-run stand for the eighth wicket during the Ranchi Test. Against his old team, the KKR, in the IPL, he hit a career-best 26 off 35 balls.
There was a time when some thought Kuldeep should bowl faster; he didn’t have enough bounce and was too slow to get past batters. His connection with the Kolkata Knight Riders became quite strained because of the criticism that he needed to pick up the pace. It resembled a maths teacher reciting a formula without providing guidance on how to solve an issue.
“Kaise karna hai wo kisi ne nahi bola, but kete rahe speed badhao.” Kuldeep remarked, “(Everyone said, I need to boost my speed, but no one informed me how).
“I was afraid to take chances. I had been bowling with the same motion for fifteen years before to my accident. My mind was racing with questions,” he remarked.
When a bewildered Kuldeep returned to Kanpur following his rehabilitation, his childhood coach Kapil Pandey noticed right away that his ward was disorganised, but he made sure he would not allow him to give up.
“First, I asked him to share with me the recommendations he had heard from everyone. “Sunil Joshi ji wanted him to work on his angle,” the man claimed. He needed to bowl a bit faster, according to Rohit Sharma. He was cautioned against placing too much weight on his front leg by NCA physiotherapist Ashish Kaushik. Kapil Pandey told The Indian Express that he seemed nervous and worried that he would lose his loop and turn by attempting new things.
“I sent him his old bowling footage and told him that the batters had a lot more opportunities to play the big shots because he gives the ball more air and it gets over the eye line. I thought he was missing the point. He was conflicted and self-conscious about giving up his mystery. I practically yelled at him to test it out before drawing any conclusions.
“I realised what Ashish ji was getting at after taking a closer look at his medical report. He desired to shield his knee. We tweaked his run-up a little bit, and I told him to go for it. The outcomes did not come as a surprise. He needed match practice, so I made him bowl for three hours in the morning and then for a few hours in the evening at the nets’, Pandey recalled.
He invited Kuldeep to participate in a Kanpur T20 league. Kuldeep stated, “Sir wanted me to taste a match.”
“In the beginning, it was frustrating. I was loosing the trajectory and was not getting my length correct. I would say, “Sir, don’t worry, I will apply ice,” even though I had been working a lot and my leg was swelling. He accompanied me on that trip.
I picked up the tempo with the new run-up, but my bowling was flat. After a few games, I saw that with this new motion and run-up, batters were not gaining additional time. After a long period, that was the first sign of hope I had seen,” Kuldeep remarked.
“Both Pant and (head coach) Ricky Ponting assured me that I will play in every game during my first campaign with the Delhi Capitals. Ricky was even impressed with my improved bowling.
“I bowled with old action against Punjab Kings in 2022 because I lost my rhythm and didn’t even realise it.” Shane Watson approached me during the strategic timeout, saying, “Mate, I want to see Kuldeep 2.0.” Show us what you did in the previous games,” Kuldeep remembers.
Kuldeep’s bowling career has been similar to his own. It has bounced, spun, and drifted, but in the last few years, it has discovered its accuracy and zip. What has altered, then? He had grown up and accepted responsibility for his actions. When host Gaurav Kapoor makes fun of Kuldeep’s weight on the show Breakfast with Champions, he quickly responds, saying, “Dhoke-dhakke sab khaya hun (I had faced betrayal and setbacks).”
Kuldeep’s mindset has undergone a seismic transformation as well. He is currently unhappy with his position as the Test team’s third spinner for India. Kuldeep told his mentor about his ambitions in the podcast with Ashwin. “Recall, Ash bhai, that following the Hyderabad Test (against England), you instructed me to bowl 15 overs and not allow more than 25–30 runs to be scored in a period if I was to be the lead spinner. I used to care more about getting four wickets than how many runs I gave up in the past.
Kuldeep accuses the bowlers of failing to carry out their strategies effectively, even in light of the Impact Player rule and the prevalence of power hitting in the current IPL.
I think bowlers ought to have a little more guts. Rather than following their own strategies, they are more concerned with batsmen’s strength. Regarding Jasprit Bumrah. Ashutosh Sharma bowled a yorker for a six the other day, but has he stopped doing so? No, he is succeeding because he is staying true to his strengths, Kuldeep replied.
