How Kuldeep Yadav plotted Ollie Pope’s dismissal

All supreme bowlers, besides their skills, have an incredible sense of timing. The wisdom and awareness of knowing which ball to bowl when. Lunch was just a ball away. Kuldeep Yadav had bowled 11 balls to Ollie Pope. Apart from one that skidded past his bat early on, he had dealt him with reasonable comfort. But two balls before the wicket-ball, he sensed Pope’s design. The English batsman was looking to use his feet.

Kuldeep didn’t immediately shorten his length. But he was ready. For he knew Pope loves to sashay down the track. “He is a kind of a player who doesn’t like to stay in the crease,” Kuldeep revealed his mindset in the post-day press conference.

If the batsman conveyed his intent, in case he stepped out too early, he knew what to unleash. The floated googly, that would beat him with the drop as well as the turn. And so it turned out to be. Dhruv Jurel, the young wicket-keeper would intimate him. Perhaps, Kuldeep knew it too. Pope stepped out, Kuldeep spotted it, shortened his length, reduced the speed of the ball, beat him in length as well as drop and turn, and made Pope resemble a novice. “He stepped out a bit early, so I changed my mind and bowled the variation. It worked,” he explained.

Kuldeep sends Pope packing with a Jaffa 🤯🤌

India get their second wicket at the stroke of Lunch 🙌#IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #BazBowled #INDvENG #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/gQWM3XYEEg

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) March 7, 2024

The support from the close-in fielders—Sarfraz Khan would continuously feed inputs from short-leg and Jurel of course from behind the stumps—were immense. But in the end, it is the bowler’s control over craft that stands out. In this series, he has looked as masterful as he ever had been. The biggest difference has been his control over lengths, he said. “As a spinner you focus on the length and try to hit good length. At times you change plans as per conditions. If you are getting drift, then you have to think about the lines too. Speed also matters. If you bowl at a certain speed and change your pace, it gets difficult for the batters,” he revealed.

It was apt that his most productive outing in the series—he spells have gone largely unsung—came in Dharamsala, where he made his debut against Australia seven years ago. In the seven years, he has gone through the whole grind—he rose to India’s first-choice spinner overseas, took six wickets in Sydney, before his stocks plummeted and was dropped. Injuries crept in and he was thrust into the cold. He has emerged wiser from the experience. “I have become a lot more mature about my bowling. I understand my game a lot better now. I know how to read the wicket.”

He also learned not to overthink or over-analyse, as several vastly gifted bowlers are prone to. “I learned not to overcomplicate and keep things simple,” he said.

Apart from action—he now runs in a bit straighter and there is more energy through the crease—he worked incredibly hard on his fitness too, especially after a surgery on his knee in 2021. “I have worked a lot on my fitness in the last 18 months. I have been able to make certain changes in my bowling because of improved fitness. I am doing specific things on my fitness which is allowing me to bowl long spells. At Rajkot (12 overs in first innings) and Ranchi (14 overs in second innings) also, I bowled long spells,” he elaborated. Either side of lunch, he bowled 15 overs of pure guile and skill here.

Tinkering with his action was not easy. “In the beginning, it was very challenging. I had changed my action, it took six to eight months to find that rhythm,” he recollected. Now, he can make minor adjustments to his actions and still be as effective. Like in Ranchi, because the surface was slow, he was slightly quicker through his action. “I practise those things regularly,” he said.

Returning to the Test fold was no easy task, as Axar Patel became a regular in his absence. But once Kuldeep got a break, he ensured that he seized it. The more he has played, the more deceptive he has looked. “If you play regularly, you get more confident about your bowling. Game awareness also comes with it. It is important to keep playing regularly as it makes your bowling sharp.” If he bowls as deceptively as he had in this series, he could make up for his years in the wilderness. If he ever requires a dose of inspiration he could rewatch the Pope dismissal.

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