Kuldeep Yadav continues his love story in Dharamsala to help India seize control against England on Day 1

It was quite the special occasion at Dharamsala’s picturesque HPCA Stadium on Thursday as Ravichandran Ashwin and Jonny Bairstow received their 100th caps from India head coach Rahul Dravid and England teammate Joe Root respectively. The spotlight would’ve been on the two veterans given the magnitude of the occasion, and they would’ve hoped to celebrate the feat with match-defining performances on the opening day of the series finale.

Eyes would’ve also been fixed on Devdutt Padikkal given the Karnataka and Lucknow Super Giants batter became the fifth Indian to make his Test debut in the ongoing series. It remains to be seen if he made the kind of instant impact in Dharamsala like Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel did in Rajkot and Akash Deep in Ranchi.

Ashwin did make it a day to remember as he ran through the English lower order to collect figures of 4/51 as England could only manage 218 after opting to bat, in which Bairstow contributed 29 runs in just 18 deliveries in an entertaining cameo. Skipper Rohit Sharma (52 not out) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (57) would later slam fifties to help India end the day on a commanding position of 135/1, bringing the deficit below 100. And Padikkal too had a say in India’s clinical performance on Thursday by collecting a couple of catches, both off Ashwin’s bowling.

However, if there was a contribution that stood out from the rest and had the biggest influence on the opening day’s events, it was Kuldeep Yadav’s haul of 5/72, the left-arm wrist spinner shining bright at what is a very special venue for him.

Kuldeep continues his Dharamsala love story

It was at this very venue nestled in the foothills of the snow-capped Dhauladhar mountains that Kuldeep began his Test journey, against Australia in the 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. And it wasn’t just Kuldeep making his debut in that game; the HPCA Stadium too was hosting its first-ever Test back then.

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The left-arm wrist spinner would collect 4/68 in his first outing for India in whites, collecting his maiden wicket in the format by dismissing opener David Warner. Kuldeep would then play a key role in triggering a middle-order collapse by getting two wickets in quick succession to ensure the Steve Smith led-Aussies were bowled out for 300 — a lot less than what they would’ve expected at 144/1.

India, who had lost the first Test of that series by a massive margin only to bounce back in style in Bengaluru, would go on to win the Test by a commanding eight wickets and seal the series 2-1.

Seven years later, Kuldeep was back at the venue in the white kit against the Ben Stokes-led English side that had arrived in India eyeing a repeat of their triumph in 2012-13, only for a familiar script to play out as the tour chugged along. Only this time the 29-year-old Kanpur native is a lot more mature a cricketer who is enjoying the form of his life ever since he reinvented himself and also got Rohit Sharma’s backing across formats.

Against Australia, it was at the fag end of Australia’s month-long tour that Kuldeep finally announced himself. This time, against the ‘Bazballers’ however, Kuldeep has had an impact in nearly every match since replacing fellow left-arm spinner Axar Patel in the second Test at Visakhapatnam’s ACA-VDCA Stadium.

Also read | Kuldeep Yadav scripts Indian record to complete 50 Test wickets, registers fifer at Dharamsala

His contributions in this series, whether with bat or with ball, have largely been in supporting roles. Whether one looks at his haul of 3/71 in Vizag or 4/22 in Ranchi, supporting Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin respectively, or his match-saving 27 in Ranchi where he played second fiddle to Dhruv Jurel and rescued India from a position from where a series-leveling defeat appeared imminent.

On Thursday, however, it was Kuldeep’s turn to hog the limelight and dish out the kind of performance that would help snuff out another spirited charge from the Englishmen. England had been bowled out for 218 alright, but that was largely down to Kuldeep chipping away at regular intervals after the visiting team were off to a fantastic start following Stokes’ decision to bat, thanks largely to another sparkling half-century from Zak Crawley.

This, after all, wasn’t the kind of turning track that was served to the two sides in Ranchi, but was every bit a belter of a surface. Additionally, the morning conditions were somewhat identical to what Stokes and Co would get back home, and both Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj did challenge openers Crawley and Ben Duckett with some testing lines and by getting some serious movement. All of which makes Kuldeep’s feat all the more impressive.

The Delhi Capitals spinner made an instant impact, drawing first blood for the hosts by getting rid of Duckett — who perished after getting a thick leading edge while trying to smash the spinner out of the park, with Shubman Gill pulling off a terrific catch near extra cover.

Even if he wasn’t getting prodigious turn to get the batter into two minds, he was making the most of the breeze that was on offer to confound the batters with drift and dip, as was evident in his dismissal of the dangerous Crawley in which his defence was completely breached with a ripper.

Kuldeep would also make brilliant use of the googly to snare important wickets, such as that of Ollie Pope at the stroke of lunch with the English No 3 failing to read the wrong ‘un and getting stumped in the process. Bairstow and Stokes too fell victim to similar deliveries, the latter made to look pedestrian as he was trapped leg-before plumb in front of middle for a six-ball duck.

“It’s important not to think about the wicket and I am someone who relies on my skill and variation in length. Not to think about what the wicket is going to produce. Just focus on the areas. When I was very young I used to overthink how to get the batter out. Slowly, slowly I matured as a spinner and focused on length,” Kuldeep said in a chat with the broadcasters after stumps on Thursday, explaining his match-day mindset.

By the time Ashwin struck for the first time on the opening day, the slide had well and truly begun and it was Kuldeep’s persistence that played a central role in maintaining the stranglehold on the visitors. So while the Indian spin trio was it again by making the English batters dance to their tunes once again, it was Kuldeep who deserves the lion’s share of the credit for a change.

And Ashwin perhaps had that in mind as he urged Kuldeep to lead the Indians back to the dressing room at the end of the English innings and proudly display the ball having just completed his five-for.