Kuldeep makes his presence felt in style after summer of absence, making his wait all the more worthwhile in the process.
Kuldeep makes the wait worthwhile as he weaves unplayable web around hapless UAE.
Oh, how have we missed you Kuldeep Yadav.
In jest, Kuldeep Yadav enquired as to who of his teammates had scored the same on the Yo-Yo test. He was jokingly alluding to the rumours he had reportedly read on social media regarding specific athletes reaching particular fitness goals. After two hours of bowling in oppressive heat and humidity, it was all light-hearted fun.
He continued after that. The conversation soon turned to Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal and his favourite player, Neymar. Kuldeep was dragged into a football digression with ease. The self-described football tragic has now discovered a new way to express his obsession: Fulltwo Football, a YouTube series.
He appeared totally at ease as he joked around with reporters. It represented the mindset of a man content with his current situation, where he is more or less certain of a spot in the starting lineup as India returns to the white-ball formats. The England Test visit had been excruciatingly drawn out only two months prior.
Kuldeep and his summer of agony
He had been warming the bench all summer, and when he wasn’t serving drinks, he was frequently seen with an earphone hooked in, listening to commentary. Knowing that he had to sit out due to the team’s need for batting depth rather than his primary skill must have required a great deal of mental discipline for a bowler at the top of his game to remain focused.
When the opportunity arose on Wednesday, Kuldeep seized it with both hands, sweeping through the UAE with four wickets in India’s Asia Cup opening match. When he returned to the T20I setup for the first time since that unforgettable June afternoon in Barbados at the T20 World Cup last year, it was a pleasant evening outside.
“It was tough for me,” Kuldeep said at the post-match presentation of the time spent sitting out in England. “I was working on my bowling and my fitness with Adrian [Le Roux, India’s strength & conditioning coach], and everything came together tonight. In this format, the length is the key – reading what the batters are trying to do and reacting to it ball by ball.”
Kuldeep vs UAE
UAE was in a respectable position as Kuldeep entered the bowling attack. Their only bright spots occurred early in the innings, when they ended the powerplay at 41 for 2 thanks to a bold lofted drive by Alishan Sharafu over extra cover off Axar Patel and a barrage of boundaries from Muhammad Waseem against Jasprit Bumrah.
However, the batsmen were compelled to take additional chances after two overs without boundaries, including one from Kuldeep. Kuldeep was dragged to Shubman Gill at wide long-on by Rahul Chopra after a mistimed shot against a wonderfully flung up delivery. Three deliveries later, Kuldeep trapped Waseem leg before wicket with his signature fizz.
The very next delivery against left-hander Harshit Kaushik almost gave him a third, but the inside edge just missed the leg stump. Kuldeep, however, could not be stopped. A wrong’un he threw up dipped, pulled Kaushik forward, and tore past the inside edge before colliding with the stumps. Kuldeep’s face lighted up, and so did the zing bails.
Only because UAE had ran out of reviews did he manage to conclude with a fourth off another wrong’un that grazed the batter’s pad on the way to Samson, a lucky wicket into his kitty. India quickly defeated the UAE, which was bundled out for 57.
After a summer spent waiting for his turn, it felt like Kuldeep was finally beginning to revel in the joy of being back where he belongs.