Kuldeep Yadav's India career hanging by a thread ahead of England Tests
India bowling coach Bharat Arun has played a major role in the development of many of the team's stars like Mohammed Siraj and T Natarajan. After a hair-raising series victory over Australia, he was asked about the form of young Kuldeep Yadav, who didn't get a single game on the tour.
Arun threw his weight emphatically behind Kuldeep, and claimed that his time will come.
"Horses for courses is the best thing and when he gets a chance to play, he will show what he can do because he is bowling magnificently now and in India when we play these four Tests (against England) it will be his time,” Arun said.
And he is right.
When India take on England in a 4-Test series starting on the 5th of February, it is highly likely that the home side's playing XI will include the left-arm wrist-spinner. After all, Ravindra Jadeja is injured, and the other options in the squad - Washington Sundar and Axar Patel - have played a combined one Test.
However, an aspect of this that must be recognised is that Kuldeep Yadav's career is hanging on by a thread. In this article, we attempt to analyse what the upcoming India-England series means to his future with the national team.
Kuldeep Yadav's woes over the last two years
The Indian Premier League shouldn't have as much of a say in selection as it truly does. But at the end of the day, it is an irrefutable fact that the glamour and profile of the league make it a yardstick for selection not only in the white-ball formats but in Test cricket as well.
For example, Natarajan had played only 27 first-class games before making his Test debut for India in the 4th Test against Australia. Ravichandran Ashwin rapidly made the step up from IPL cricket with the Chennai Super Kings to the Indian Test team.
Similarly, Kuldeep Yadav established himself as a premier spinner in the country with his performances in the 2017 and 2018 editions of the IPL. However, following those two fruitful campaigns, his career has gone drastically downhill.
Kuldeep was reduced to tears by Moeen Ali, who took him for 26 runs in embarrassing fashion in the 2019 IPL. India suffered a mauling at the hands of England in the 2019 World Cup which broke the Kuldeep-Chahal partnership for good.
Since then, Kuldeep Yadav's confidence has never recovered. Over the last two IPL seasons, he has taken only 5 wickets and has been used sparingly by his captains even when he's part of the playing XI.
The retirement of MS Dhoni has certainly played a part, and Kuldeep himself has openly lamented the absence of the former Indian captain's wisdom from behind the stumps.
Where does Kuldeep Yadav's Test career stand at the moment?
In the 6 Tests that Kuldeep Yadav has played, he has impressed.
He scalped four wickets in his first Test innings against Australia in 2017, sending back David Warner, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins. The 25-year-old's first overseas Test in Sri Lanka five months later saw him pick up another four wickets.
Kuldeep then bowled only 9 wicketless overs in a solitary Test in England at Lord's, before recording his first 5-wicket haul against West Indies at Rajkot in October 2018. The following game (the only time he has played back-to-back Tests so far) against the same opposition saw him bowl well, and two months later, he was handed a chance in Sydney.
The standout performance of Kuldeep Yadav's short Test career so far came in that Sydney Test. He got the better of 5 Australian batsmen on a wicket that didn't have much in it for the spinners, and seemed to have become India's most potent weapon overseas.
But since then, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have elevated their game to such an extent that it has become impossible to drop either of them. And Kuldeep Yadav, who has been part of the Test squad on most occasions since his SCG showing, hasn't gotten a game.
In the Australia tour, there were rumours circulating that he would be part of the D/N Adelaide Test since he is difficult to read while bowling with the pink ball. But Ashwin was given the nod instead, and we all know how that turned out.
In the 4th and final Test, with both Ashwin and Jadeja injured, Kuldeep Yadav had another chance to finally play a game on the tour. But Washington Sundar's prowess with the bat gave the young off-spinner a Test debut, leaving Kuldeep warming the bench again.
Sundar was spectacular on debut, and he certainly offers more than Kuldeep when it comes to all-round contributions. Axar Patel, who made the squad for the England Tests, is another option to turn the ball away from the right-hander.
As a result, Kuldeep Yadav's India career is almost completely dependent on how he performs against England. If he does well, and it's highly likely that he will on the turning tracks of Chennai and Ahmedabad, he'll be in the squad for all upcoming tours.
But if he doesn't, he could very easily find himself behind Sundar and Axar in the pecking order, with others like Yuzvendra Chahal also pushing for a maiden Test call-up.
In fact, even if he does excel, Kuldeep Yadav's spot in the team will only be guaranteed for home Tests on rank turners when both Ashwin and Jadeja are fit. Outside the subcontinent, it's extremely tough to envision India playing three spinners.
Various coaches have backed Kuldeep publicly, saying that he is in the best form of his life and that the ball is coming out of the hand very well. It remains to be seen whether that is actually true, or whether the coaches are handing a drowning man a final glimmer of hope.
Either way, Indian fans will hope that Kuldeep Yadav does well against England. He is undoubtedly a world-class bowler, and is a unique weapon that very few international teams can boast of having in their arsenal.
A number of England players such as Zak Crawley, Rory Burns and Dom Sibley will be on their first tour of India, and although he's only 25 years old, Kuldeep Yadav has had sufficient experience at the international level. The youngster is primed for success, but only if he can overcome the demons that have haunted him over the last year or two.