Kuldeep Yadav is one such bowler who can turn any game on its head if the batters are not reading him properly or having difficulties in playing spin in general. The Kanpur based left arm wrist spinner has gained a lot of confidence in recent times as he proved his worth to captain Rohit Sharma with a couple of match winning spells and hence he got picked in the 17-man squad for the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
While the team already has the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and almost in time fit Ravindra Jadeja and a quality all rounder in Axar Patel. But former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels that Kuldeep Yadav could have a major impact in deciding the fortunes of the series. He feels that the Kanpur based spinner will play in at least two of the four Test match series and will turn the match in India’s favour.
“In the bowling department, I feel Kuldeep Yadav will be a big impact player because I remember the 2017-18 series at Dharamsala, he picked up those three or four wickets which laid the foundation for India winning the Test series,” Bangar said during the ‘Follow the Blues’ segment in Star Sports when he was asked to pick a single player to watch out for in the upcoming series.
Bangar recalls the 2017 Dharmashala test match where Kuldeep got four wickets in the first innings which laid the platform for India to go on and win the match and also the series 2-1. Bangar believes that once again similar things are expected as he feels Kuldeep will be fielded in two matches.
“India have some very good finger spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel, whoever the team picks. But in at least two Test matches I foresee Kuldeep Yadav playing and keep making a big impact for the Indian team,” Bangar added.
Taking inspiration from the Dharmashala Test in 2017, Kuldeep picked up a five wicket haul against Australia in the 2019 Sydney Test completely bamboozling the host’s first innings. Overall he has played in two Test matches against the Australians and has picked nine wickets and just like 2017, Bangar believes that Kuldeep has that capability to change the series when needed.
It will be interesting to see how India manage their lineup because with Jadeja back in the mix they have someone of Ashwin and Jadeja’s calibre who are proper all rounders in this format. Similarly Axar Patel with his batting prowess will slot in directly if the team needs a like for like replacement for Jadeja. The hosts also cannot go weak on their batting front, so making a slot open for Kuldeep will be a task for Rohit Sharma. He will surely enjoy the presence of a wrist spinner who is in form but given that all the other three spinners can bat, makes the job all the more difficult for the Indian skipper. However, we may surely see Kuldeep in action somewhere down the line in the four match Test series as he will once again hope to turn things around.
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