How the ongoing IPL is a career-saving act for Kuldeep Yadav

Perhaps it won’t be incorrect to suggest that we all have, depending on what part of Cricket we like, our own definitions for it. 

To some, it’s an even-stevens contest between the bat and the ball. This might, however, be the most balanced definition of the sport. 

Then the one clearly biased toward the ambit of the wood would suggest Cricket is a batsman’s game where the bowlers merely exist to get hammered or undergo toil. 

Now, figuratively speaking, if you were to be a certain Kuldeep Yadav, then you may indeed view it differently. 

To you, then, Cricket would be a sport where the bowlers are constantly trying - and were seen in the ongoing IPL- getting the better of batters. 

How else would a certain Kuldeep Yadav, easily Kanpur’s brightest export to the world of Indian Cricket, view the sport? 

Regardless of who you are, whether a Pant fan, a Kohli lover who wishes the king to return to form, someone who misses Gayle and AB, no more in the IPL, or an admirer of the rising Umran Malik, perhaps it makes perfect sense to understand that the ongoing IPL isn’t just about these dazzling names.

And that there are some, think Kuldeep Yadav, who are constantly going about their jobs with the quiet dignity you’d anyways associate with them. 

He might not be the headlining act on any particular day, given the presence of other starry powers who thrive, unlike this understated performer. 

But lest it is forgotten, Kuldeep Yadav has been the critical subtext to this IPL, without which one may not imagine any modicum of success that his Delhi capitals have managed to bag. 

The 2022 edition of the IPL has, truthfully speaking, turned out to be quite a career-saving act for Kuldeep Yadav, someone who was so desperately, much like a good friend and fellow spin-twin, Yuzi Chahal, fighting to stay relevant in the context of Indian Cricket. 

With his prodigiously turning leg spinners, Kuldeep Yadav has successfully baffled some of the ablest batters he’s been made to confront in a format that is particularly about big hits and back-breaking boundaries and sixes. 

So far, and he’s played twelve contests, Kuldeep Yadav has been doing in the IPL pretty much what he does whilst wearing the Indian jersey, albeit with a sense of urgency about his Cricket. 

He’s been quintessentially unafraid to toss up the ball, bowl a little fuller and, on occasions, been bowling faster through the air, arguably to seek something special despite appearing on placid surfaces. 

It’s not that he hasn’t gone for runs; he took just 1 for 40 against the Sunrisers, managed 0 for 43 versus Chennai and even went for 46 whilst taking a solitary wicket against Bangalore. 

But it’s the contests where he’s taken wickets that matter. Usually speaking, whenever his outfit has won a contest at the behest of good bowling, we’ve found that Kuldeep spurs Delhi to fine heights. 

Here’s how? 

Delhi won when he took a 2 for 24 against Punjab, perhaps nearly as ebullient a side as his. 

As the tournament progressed and the batters wore on against spin, Kuldeep Yadav even succeeded in taking the Mickey out of Kolkata Knight Riders. 

The first that Delhi Capitals squared off against the Knight Riders, Yadav took a sublime 4 for 14. The end result? Delhi won. The next time they faced the same opponents, Kuldeep, a tad bit expensive going for 35 from his allotted four overs, took a four-wicket haul, and Delhi won again. 

On both occasions, he’d emerge with the Player-of-the-match award. 

Alas, his dazzling bowling weren’t quite etched, whether in ink or on digital publications, with the same enthusiasm as one finds a report celebrating a Kohli knock or a narrative explaining the belligerent hitting by Andre Russell. 

Though, here’s what is true about the 27-year-old. 

Yadav has a reasonably simple modus operandi. And it’s to do every bit of magic with the ball that he possibly can. This time around, he’s even bowled a touch flatter arguably to play with the batter’s mind. 

He understands well that he’s got to finish this IPL, regardless of how or where his outfit finishes. 

His eighteen wickets testify to his renewed efforts to revive a career that was perhaps going nowhere or maybe even downhill. 

With a slew of exciting bowling talents- whether the enterprising Krunal Pandya, the rising Washington Sundar, the inimitable Jadeja or the up-and-coming Ravi Bishnoi, India will never face a dearth of quality spin. 

However, what could possibly happen at Kuldeep Yadav’s end, could be a dearth of opportunities that he’s afforded. 

This is no random speak! There’s sufficient evidence available. 

Since the 2019 ODI World Cup, we haven’t really been seeing the Chinaman; he’s only played 5 T20 internationals since that time. 

Did you note? 

Whilst until such time, others, such as Bumrah, Jadeja, and Shardul, have featured in 15, 12, and 18, respectively. 

So has Kuldeep fallen out of favour with the selectors and the administrators of Indian Cricket? Not sure, though, his performances really have. 

Here’s proof. 

Where ODI cricket is concerned, then since the completion of the 2019 WC, which includes 15 one daters, Kuldeep’s bowled in eight series’ up to the present day. 

But from these, he’s bowled at an average economy of 6.3. On two occasions (two series), he’s gone comfortably over eight and over. 

This is where the problem lies. Though where his current IPL form is an indication, then it can be clearly seen- and mustn’t be misinterpreted- that Yadav is doing all he can and is fighting to live another day for his services and contributions to Indian Cricket.