Is it ever a good time to be Kuldeep Yadav?

This is the bowler about whom former India coach Ravi Shastri boldly proclaimed, after Kuldeep took five wickets in an innings at the Sydney Cricket Ground in early 2019, that he was the team’s “number one overseas spinner”.

Since then, Kuldeep has played just one Test away from India – in Bangladesh, in December 2022. He took eight wickets, scored a dogged 40 down the order and was adjudicated Player of the Match.

Come the next Test of that tour, just days later, Kuldeep was dropped from the XI.

And now, in Sri Lanka for two Tests, there remains the possibility of Kuldeep once again sitting out an overseas assignment. This despite there being no Jasprit Bumrah or Washington Sundar to compete with him for a spot in the XI.

Kuldeep sat on the bench throughout the England tour, but then signed for Yorkshire for five one-day matches, taking nine wickets at an average of 23 while conceding fewer than 4.50 runs an over. Handy game time, given how infrequently India pick him.

Then, in the tour match in Colombo against a Sri Lankan XI, Kuldeep sent down 18 overs for 2/76. The figures may not scream dominance, but the rhythm was back, the ball was coming out well from his left hand, and there were ample displays of turn and bounce off a largely batting-friendly pitch.

It should be enough for Kuldeep to slot back into the team as the specialist spinner alongside Ravindra Jadeja and one-Test-old Manav Suthar. But stranger things have happened in the 31-year-old’s career.

Nine years into his Test career, Kuldeep has played just 18 matches. Sure, he had to wait for opportunities when the Ashwin-Jadeja combination was dominating home series after home series. He also lost out to Axar Patel for the third-spinner’s spot because of Axar’s superior batting.

But it has become a recurring theme in Kuldeep’s career, not just in Tests but also in ODIs: whenever India are missing a seam-bowling all-rounder, team managements have often preferred a spinner who can contribute with the bat. Axar, Washington, Jayant Yadav, among others who offer balance. Kuldeep, meanwhile, offers what he has always offered: wickets.

Never mind that in those 18 Tests, he has taken 79 wickets at an average of 22. Or that since his ODI debut in 2017, no spinner has taken more wickets in the format than his 194.

Even in T20I cricket, where his bowling vastly outweighs his batting, Kuldeep has often been squeezed out as captains and coaches attempt to construct what they believe is the best overall XI. That is understandable in a format which lends itself more readily to multi-dimensional cricketers.

But it makes Kuldeep’s career an odd one. He has consistently produced numbers that demand selection, yet his lack of batting keeps making him vulnerable whenever team balance becomes an issue.

There are only two Tests in Sri Lanka before India’s next assignment, in New Zealand in late November. A second spinner is highly unlikely in those conditions, and if India do pick one alongside Jadeja, it will probably be Suthar, Washington or Axar because of their batting.

So, for Kuldeep, once again, time may stand still. He should play in Sri Lanka … on merit, pedigree and experience. But with Kuldeep, the possibility of being overlooked is never very far away.