Kuldeep’s four-for drives India to eight-wicket win over West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram
Kuldeep Yadav took four for 40 for India against the West Indies in the first ODI in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Virat Kohli scored a century and Shubman Gill also made a hundred as India completed an eight-wicket victory.
Kuldeep is a left-arm wrist-spinner who announced himself in international cricket more than nine and a half years ago, and his emergence was aided by advice facilitated between Anil Kumble and Shane Warne. Kumble, who was India’s head coach for only one year, helped introduce Kuldeep to Warne; Kuldeep’s Test debut came as a 22-year-old from Kanpur during the Australia series in early 2017. On that debut at the HPCA Stadium in the Dharamsala decider he finished with four for 68 from 23 overs, his first Test wickets including David Warner, Peter Handscomb and Glenn Maxwell.
West Indies appeared in control after an opening stand of 135 between Justin Greaves and John Campbell in 19.2 overs, but Kuldeep reduced them to 198 for five by claiming wickets in successive deliveries. One of those dismissals came when a wrong’un caught the splice of Jewel Andrew’s bat and lobbed to Rohit Sharma at slip; Kuldeep’s four for 40 were his best ODI figures since five for 25 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup at Colombo in September 2023. Only three times in the subsequent 34 ODIs before Sunday had he taken four wickets in an innings.
In the run chase Kohli produced a century and Gill compiled a hundred as India reached their target with eight wickets in hand. Match officials named Kuldeep the Player of the Match after his spell that substantially curtailed the West Indian total and altered the momentum of the game.
Kuldeep’s recent international form has been mixed across formats: he has not taken more than two wickets in a T20I innings for 12 months, and the last of his five Test five-fors came in October last year against the West Indies. His last five innings in the five-day game yielded four wickets in 54.5 overs, and in the Galle Test last month he finished with match figures of one for 103 from 25 overs while being outperformed by finger-spinners Manav Suthar and Ravindra Jadeja.
Nine and a half years on from his debut, Kuldeep has 19 Test caps and has been used predominantly in limited-overs cricket, with 122 ODIs and 54 T20Is producing 198 and 95 wickets respectively. Those figures, and intermittent returns to form, have left him alternately in and out of the Test side and more regularly deployed in the shorter formats.
Over the next week Kuldeep will have further chances in the next two ODIs and the following five T20Is to build on this performance; if he can take wickets in those matches it would bolster his form ahead of India’s full tour of New Zealand in three weeks’ time. India will also consider his role as they prepare for the 50-over World Cup in the Africas in 12 months’ time.
