3 reasons why Kuldeep Yadav could finish his career as India's greatest ODI spinner ever
Kuldeep Yadav is turning out to be arguably India's go-to bowler in ODIs and his performances against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2023 speak volumes about his importance.
The left-arm wrist-spinner picked up five wickets against Pakistan in his spell of eight overs, giving away just 25 runs. On the very next day, Kuldeep once again stood up when his team needed, this time picking up four wickets and completing a thrilling win over Sri Lanka to take his team to the Asia Cup final.
On that note, here are three reasons why Kuldeep Yadav could become the greatest ODI spinner India have produced:
#3 Age is on his side
Kuldeep Yadav became the fastest Indian spinner to pick up 150 ODI wickets, getting to the milestone in just his 88th game. He was in and out of the Indian side before, but is still 28 years of age with a lot of cricket left in him.
The way Kuldeep has been running through the opposition and if he is able to sustain his current form and fitness, there is no reason why he cannot play for at least 7-8 more years and go past the leading wicket-taker among Indian spinners, Anil Kumble (334 wickets).
#2 Superior in numbers compared to those ahead of him
In terms of wickets, Kuldeep Yadav is only behind the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin (151), Ravindra Jadeja (199), Harbhajan Singh (265) and Anil Kumble (334). However, Kuldeep's average of 25.64 is better than any of the aforementioned spinners.
His strike rate of 30 shows just how frequently he has been picking up wickets, better than those ahead of him. As mentioned before, if he is able to sustain this consistency, he will definitely top the list in terms of all these factors among Indian spinners.
#1 Kuldeep Yadav has found his mojo
Ever since Kuldeep Yadav has worked on his pace, he has become a different bowler altogether. There has been a lot of talk about how Kuldeep has altered his pace and trajectory, thereby giving the batters less time to read his deliveries.
He has bagged a staggering 31 wickets in 15 ODIs this year and has been in red-hot form, displacing Yuzvendra Chahal as India's No.1 choice in this format. The Men in Blue will hope that Kuldeep keeps this form going with the aim to finally break the ICC trophy jinx with the World Cup next month.