Kuldeep Yadav Race Against Time Test Career India Vs Sri Lanka Series

After India’s white-ball tour of Ireland and England this July, during which Kuldeep Yadav spent nearly all his time on the bench, the opportunity to play the One-Day Cup for Yorkshire came around and he didn’t have any second thoughts. The plan had been Kanpur, then Sri Lanka, working under his childhood coach Kapil Dev Pandey ahead of what was a make-or-break series for the 31-year-old wrist-spinner. Instead, from London, Kuldeep changed course and headed north to Leeds, in search of game time that had been badly missing.

As India head into the series against Sri Lanka, Kuldeep finds himself in a precarious situation. Understudy to R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as a third spinner, kept out by team combinations, his Test appearances stand at 18 in nine years. Even after Ashwin retired, he has played only five Tests, with Washington Sundar preferred ahead of him, and now faces a fresh challenger in Sri Lanka in Manav Suthar.

“This series is made for Kuldeep,” Pandey tells The Indian Express. “Uska waqt aagaya. He has to believe it and show it to the world that he is a match winner. Of course, the pressure is definitely on him, but at this level it is all about handling that. He has been playing for years now, so this is the time to pull all that experience together and show who he is and what he can capable of when he plays.”

In the one-off Test against Afghanistan, Kuldeep showed signs of rustiness, inevitable given the time he has spent warming the bench across formats. That is why he turned out for Yorkshire, even if it meant it was one-day cricket. “Before he landed in Sri Lanka, I wanted him to be in the rhythm,” Pandey says. “No matter how many overs you bowl in the nets, in a match when the batsman is trying to put you off, you have to find that rhythm. If you can keep hitting the right line and length when batsmen are after you, then you are in the game. So that’s what he did in England,” Pandey says, pointing to the five matches he played in ten days.

Pandey doesn’t hide that the noise around Kuldeep since Suthar’s arrival hasn’t made things easy for the 31-year-old. If anything, he calls it a glorious opportunity for Kuldeep to take his game to another level. “In early years, even when Ashwin and Jadeja were there, he has played ahead of them,” Pandey says. “So why can’t he do it now?”

In subcontinent teams, a third-choice spinner losing his way isn’t new. But in most cases, the opportunities rarely opened back up, as with Murali Kartik or Venkatapathy Raju. With Kuldeep, the story is different: a left-arm wrist-spinner is a unique breed, with enough variation up his sleeve that, played regularly, he has produced performances of real note. His well-disguised variations have left batsmen struggling to read him out of the hand.

Since Ashwin’s retirement, Kuldeep has one five-wicket haul in five Tests, a return that isn’t bad but has been viewed through the harsh lens of a spinner not stepping up. Raju, who played much of his career in a three-pronged spin attack himself, says Kuldeep should by now be carrying the weight of expectation. “It is an international level. You can’t think about all that. We have to be ready for it. But in Kuldeep’s case it is unfortunate that he doesn’t get to play enough matches. That’s why it makes it more difficult for him. The trust is very important. It takes a different skill to bowl longer spells,” Raju says.

Raju doesn’t hide his disappointment that India didn’t make Kuldeep the second spinner the moment Ashwin retired. “Somebody like Kuldeep shouldn’t be warming the bench. Once Ashwin retired, he should have always been second choice. As long as Jadeja is there, he will play as an all-rounder. But Kuldeep being a wrist-spinner should be a straightforward choice. Whether the pitch is helpful or not, he will get you those wickets. You can’t leave such bowlers outside,” Raju says.

The importance of the series isn’t lost on Kuldeep either. Before leaving for the UK, he had a few sessions with Pandey in Kanpur, who made him bowl with every kind of ball. “I gave him old ball, ones that don’t turn, ones which seam had worn off and even the new ball and Kookaburra,” Pandey says. “What he bowls with shouldn’t be a concern. If he gets the basics right, he can work magic with any ball.”

In the warm-up fixture, Kuldeep showed encouraging signs, but once India head to Galle, they confront a key question. Whether the opportunity opens up for Kuldeep or not, one thing is clear for Pandey: a promise made and heard decades apart.

“This series is important for him and me personally. This is what he has been craving for a long time, to play Tests regularly. Last year when he didn’t play a single Test in England, you heard many experts say had he played it could have been different. So I hope he gets an opportunity here and he wins matches for India.

“It is what Kuldeep told me when I met him as a boy. Uska waqt aagaya.”

Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.