 "Kuldeep Yadav took five wickets as England were bowled out for 218 in first innings of Dharamsala Test. AP")
The highlight from Day 1 of India’s fifth Test against England at Dharamsala was the dismissal of Zak Crawley. Kuldeep Yadav got the ball to turn as much as 10.9 degree to clean up the English batter, but if Crawley’s wicket was all about skills, Ollie Pope’s stumping was a result of a combination of skills and planning.
Lunch was just a few balls away when Pope, on 11 from 23 balls, decided to charge down against Kuldeep instead of waiting for the break and the result was a stumping dismissal as the Indian left-arm wrist-spinner bowled a googly that turned away from the batter and wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel did the rest.
Jurel of course had mentioned before the dismissal that Pope was planning to step out and counter the spin, but Kuldeep had as much idea about what was going to happen. “He is a kind of a player who doesn’t like to stay in the crease,” Kuldeep revealed in the post-day press conference.
Still, knowing what can happen is one thing, executing a perfect variation to outfox the batter takes a different level of skill level.
“He stepped out a bit early, so I changed my mind and bowled the variation. It worked,” Kuldeep shared.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsRead: Kuldeep continues his love story in Dharamsala to help India seize control
That delivery was latest example of how good Kuldeep has got at controlling his lengths and execution.
“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 said.
Kuldeep was out of favour after the 2019 ODI World Cup, but has returned to the team with a bang and the spinner revealed how working on his fitness after the knee surgery in 2021 has helped him to be a better bowler.
“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 added
Besides fitness, he has also worked on his action, which has allowed him to be faster in the air.
“In the beginning, it was very challenging. I had changed my action, it took six to eight months to find that rhythm,” he said.