India vs England: ‘Insane hard work’ ensures Kuldeep Yadav will have to be played ahead of Axar Patel in Tests

Former bowling coach Bharat Arun remembers a moment that then India head coach Ravi Shastri had with Kuldeep Yadav about his fitness.

“This puppy fat you have na has to be melted away boss! I can’t think of a single reason with improved fitness that you won’t become a world-class Test bowler,” Arun paraphrases Shastri’s words from memory.

Arun brings it up in the context of the “insane hard work” that Kuldeep has put in since late 2021 from the moment he was sidelined due to a serious leg injury that needed surgery.

“It seems rather silly to say this but that injury, I think, gave him no option but to get fitter. He had to do all the hard rehab work, shed himself of that puppy fat, to continue his dream of playing cricket. And he has obviously worked a lot on his bowling – that energy through the crease is a standout feature now. It allows him to increase pace without sacrificing turn, loop, drift,” Arun tells The Indian Express.

Super fielding from Sarfaraz Khan! 🤯 👊@ImRaina would be proud of that catch as #TeamIndia continue to take wickets in the 4th Test 🙌#INDvsENG #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #BazBowled #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/sXRPTPgwZA

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) February 25, 2024

It’s also the reason why India will now have to play Kuldeep ahead of Axar Patel in any Test they play. Especially, in the context of the pitches they are serving – not rank turners- where Axar the bowler is almost nullified, or at least his effectiveness vastly reduced.

On such tracks, the comparison can be simplistically reduced to a battle between their stock balls. Axar’s landing on a length and skidding on on a good day with a hint of turn has no chance against Kuldeep’s wristy loopy offering with a bit more turn that has the potential to beat batsmen in flight, with dip and turn. Aligned with it, are his other variations. Axar was one of India’s most valuable batsmen in the home Test series against Australia, but of late, Kuldeep the batsman has fought doggedly, putting a big price on his wicket.

Energy, not pace

One returns to Arun and the perception floating around then was that during his stint, Kuldeep wasn’t played that frequently as he wanted the spinner to bowl faster. Arun laughs.

The Kuldeep Yadav effect🪄👌

Crawley is left deceived by the #TeamIndia spinner’s brilliance with the ball 👏#IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #BazBowled #JioCinemaSports #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/T5IE3Fwd3l

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) February 25, 2024

“Any bowler can bowl quicker – that was never the point. It had to be done without sacrificing turn, loop and dip. And it was always about the energy through the crease. The ultimate result is a visible increase in pace. Not the other way around. Not going there and firing the ball. None of us are idiots! It was about being patient and working hard.

“How do you do that? Fitness certainly is a factor to bowl in Tests with that kind of energy. We always knew Kuldeep can deliver: Who can forget the ball he bowled in the 2015 World Cup to Babar Azam! How to sustain that through longer spells? When your release point’s hand position is precise, you have a quicker arm speed. All the spinner’s nuances can come through the wrist position. Now look at him, quicker arm-speed, that bustle through the crease, near-perfect hand position at release, and it’s all going in the direction it ought to go – towards the batsman at the other end. With better fitness, his basics (of bowling action) taken care of, he is now actively channeling all his energy at the other end, trying to beat the man there,” Arun says.

Back from the brink

It wasn’t an easy journey, though. In IPL 2021, Kuldeep didn’t feature in a single game for Kolkata Knight Riders and left the bubble after suffering a knee injury, which forced him to go for surgery. Former spinner and selector Sunil Joshi had spoken to this newspaper about his work with Kuldeep since 2021-22 after his return from surgery in particular.

“I got his delivery stride shorter, front arm better, arm-speed better, got him to rip more revolutions on the ball … Ravi Shastri asked me, ‘Sunil, what have you done with Kuldeep?’ I said, ‘Ravi bhai, I have not done anything special. If you look at Kuldeep 2.0, his front arm is going toward the target, his bowling arm is towards the target, he is running towards the target. Shorter stride, there is a free follow-through, he has got quicker through the air.”

A stint with Delhi Capitals under Ricky Ponting’s coaching helped. Regular matches came his way. More encouragement came via Rishabh Pant, his IPL captain. And now, he has flourished more under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy.

“Tu aisa daalega toh bowling nahi doonga (If you bowl like this, I will take you off),” Rohit would shout from slip during a game last year when he felt Kuldeep was slipping into a flatter trajectory. Rohit can cajole; he also can be a firm guiding hand. Both traits have helped Kuldeep. In the ongoing series against England, Rohit has been spending a lot of time with Kuldeep in the nets, with long chats on his batting – about his bat-flow and trigger movements. Everything is syncing up nicely now.

He might not be able to play the last Test in Dharamsala owing to the conditions that may prompt India to go with a pace-heavy composition, but in the bigger picture, the future looks bright. As Arun puts it: “He is not even 30 yet, his best years as a Test spinner are ahead.”

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