Kuldeep Yadav proved too good for the England batters on the opening day of the Dharamsala cricket Test.
Credit: PTI Photo
Dharamsala: En route his fourth career five-wicket haul, Kuldeep Yadav set a new record - the spinner became the bowler with fewest balls (1871) to 50 Test wickets. But more than the record it was the guile he brought to the fore that stood out even as England were bedazzled here on Thursday.
It wasn't surprising to see Kuldeep extract the amount of turn he did on a pitch which had seamers licking their lips. That's the thing with wrist spinners. With the pitch gripping, the drift and turn by Kuldeep was too hot to handle for the English batters as the left-arm wrist spinner walked away with figures of 5/72.
"The wicket is good and it is unlikely to break considering the cold weather," said Kuldeep after the opening day's play of the final Test. "It was cold in the first hour. The ball was gripping and was just trying to put revs on the ball. I was using the drift well on both sides. Very happy we were able to get them out for 218 as it is a good wicket."
Kuldeep said he has become more mature as a bowler since his debut here seven years ago against Australia.
"It was an interesting phase. I have become a lot more mature about my bowling. I understand my game a lot better now. I know how to read the wicket. I have worked a lot on my fitness in the last 18 months and I have been able to make certain changes in my bowling because of improved fitness. Doing specific things on my fitness which is allowing me to bowl long spells, (in) Rajkot and Ranchi also I bowled long spells. I have gotten used to it now," he offered.
Of the five dismissals, Ollie Pope's dismissal was perhaps the most impressive one. As the batter stepped out, as is his wont, Kuldeep pulled the length back and bowled a googly as Dhruv Jurel stumper the right-hander. It was in fact Jurel's message about the batter's propensity to stride forward that led to the dismissal.
"Pope’s batting style is such that he prefers stepping out of the crease, and wants to dominate the spinners," Kuldeep pointed out. "So, if you have variation up your sleeve, you can try that. You can bowl three dots and then think what can be done next. It’s the job of the keepers to tell us what’s to be done since they read the game from behind the stumps. But he stepped out a bit early, so I had to change the variation and that worked."