Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav is suddenly on everybody’s mind. Kuldeep made a sparkling Test debut, claiming figures of 4 for 68 in the first innings. The spell against the Aussies at Dharamsala in the series decider has earned him a fair bit of attention. But, the buzz around him is not new. Kuldeep has been among one of those young players who made his seniors as well as cricket fans keep a keen eye on him.
Gautam Gambhir, who captain’s the 22-year-old in the IPL, as one of the first persons who had the opportunity to have a close look at the skills the spinner possessed. He believes that the biggest quality the young bowler has is consistency.
“From a skills point of view, he is pretty consistent,” Gambhir told ESPNcricinfo. “If he bowls a bad ball, it is usually a fuller ball. He hardly bowls a short delivery. That kind of consistency for a wrist spinner is a massive quality to have. If you have to mistake you’d much rather make it fuller than shorter. He hardly bowls long-hops which are a big quality to have.
“He started his Test career on a very good note and hopefully he can continue to the same way because people can talk too much about him. At times if you start talking too much about a young boy, you can stop enjoying the game. I am not surprised with what he did in the first innings at Dharamsala because he’s got a great temperament. I realised whenever he played for us that he’s someone who is not scared of getting hit. Kuldeep has a big heart, that is what you look for in any spinner who wants to go on and play for India. Hopefully, he can play for a very long time, just let him enjoy his game and express himself.”
Kuldeep was roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014 and since then he has shared the dressing room with Gambhir. The left arm wrist spinner will be joining his Knight Riders team-mates in Kolkata at the end of the Dharamsala Test to prepare for the tenth IPL season which starts on April 5.
Knight Riders haven’t had the best of the time in the past couple of seasons despite being two-time champions. The Kolkata side, who will begin their campaign in Rajkot on April 7 against Gujarat Lions, finished fifth in 2015 and were knocked out in the playoffs last year. Gambhir says that some tactical changes have been made in order to put up a strong performance this year.
The auctions witnessed them focussing on the fast bowlers more than any other category of players. The reason behind it, Gambhir explains, is the change in the nature of the wickets at their home ground, Eden Gardens. He feels that in the past couple of season the tracks on offer have been more seamer friendly than spin friendly, forcing them to think beyond their star spinners.
“We have made tactical changes this year,” Gambhir said. “Hopefully, these guys can live up to their reputation. Someone like Boult can be very useful for us who can swing the ball up front at a reasonable pace. We have strengthened our attack with pace, I thought we made a very sensible move at the auction.
“We felt last year that wickets weren’t that helpful for spinners. Someone like Sunil Narine is a big threat in any conditions but we realised that there wasn’t a lot of help for our spinners so we went for genuine fast bowlers. We have someone like Umesh Yadav and Ankit Rajpoot and three quality foreign fast bowlers as well. Our bowling attack is really good and hopefully, we can utilise that.”