Kuldeep Yadav's 3 best spells in 2023 World Cup
While Kuldeep Yadav couldn't win the 2023 World Cup for Team India, the spinner did play his role really well throughout the tournament. In what was a stellar performance from the Indian pacers, Kuldeep kept on chipping away with wickets whenever the team needed them the most.
In 11 games, Kuldeep picked up 15 wickets at an economy rate of just 4.45 and formed a great partnership with Ravindra Jadeja to control the middle overs in the 10 games that India won in the tournament.
On that note, let's take a look at the three performances by Kuldeep Yadav that stand out from the rest in the 2023 World Cup:
#3 2/42 vs Australia, Chennai
Jasprit Bumrah did dismiss Mitchell Marsh early on, but there was a strong partnership between David Warner and Steve Smith that threatened to provide a platform for the Aussies during their league-stage face-off against India. However, Kuldeep broke that partnership as he induced Warner to play a false shot, completing a simple caught-and-bowled.
Kuldeep then came back in the game later for his match-up against Glenn Maxwell. India knew they had to get Maxwell early and that's exactly what Kuldeep did, cleaning the batter up by deception and turn. His two crucial wickets helped India restrict the Aussies to just 199 and the hosts ended up chasing it down comfortably.
#2 2/35 vs Pakistan, Ahmedabad
Kuldeep Yadav had a pretty important role to play in India triggering Pakistan's batting collapse. Mohammed Siraj had just broken the partnership between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan by sending back the Pakistan skipper.
It was Kuldeep's turn from the other end to amplify the pressure on the opposition. He didn't let Saud Shakeel rotate strike well and got him trapped in front. While Iftikhar Ahmed hit Kuldeep for a boundary, the batter was clean bowled around his legs by a brilliant googly.
These two wickets in the same over gave the Men in Blue the momentum they needed to make a roaring comeback.
#1 2/24 vs England, Lucknow
India had just 230 runs to defend against England and really needed their bowlers to step up. That's exactly what happened as Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah ran riot in the powerplay.
England knew they had to absorb the pressure, and try and milk the runs against the spinners. However, Kuldeep Yadav didn't allow that as he produced another memorable delivery to clean up Jos Buttler.
It was almost similar to the one he bowled to dismiss Babar Azam in the 2019 World Cup as the ball turned a lot more than the batter expected and rattled his stumps.
Kuldeep Yadav then went on to trap Liam Livingstone in front and ended the hopes of any fightback from England. Those two wickets broke the back of any hopes from a lower middle-order fightback from the defending champions.