Champions trophy 2025: Spinning magic

Kuldeep Yadav’s art of left-arm wrist spin is subtle. It’s not endearingly garish as it was in the world of Shane Warne or Abdul Qadir.

His magic is well-concealed by layers of plainness and courage. A rewind to India’s Champions Trophy match against Pakistan last Sunday will validate that impression.

Pakistan still had some life in their innings at 200/5 with eight overs to come, and an in-form Salman Agha was at the crease with Khushdil Shah. Skipper Rohit Sharma pressed Kuldeep into service.

Immediately, Agha saw a scoring opportunity but his shimmy at Kuldeep’s stock delivery ended in the hands of Ravindra Jadeja.

The very next ball, Kuldeep slid in a fast one to trap Shaheen Shah Afridi in front for a first-ball duck, and Pakistan were reduced to 200/7.

It’s this variety and quick assessment of batters that make Kuldeep a real threat at any stage of the match, now even the final 10 overs.

“There might be some tenderness as he is coming off an injury lay-off. But he has done well so far. There is the right amount of hip pivot and body weight behind his delivery arm, and it has kept him accurate, very rare for a wrist spinner,” a former India spinner said.

That accuracy has made his captains toss the ball to him even in the death overs, as he had done against Pakistan in Dubai. In fact, ESPNCricinfo statistics show that Kuldeep has taken 25 wickets in 43 innings when he bowled between overs 40 and 45 since 2015, the point when five fielders were allowed in the outfield in the final 10 overs.

In terms of wickets taken in the 40-45 overs phase, those numbers place him behind fellow wrist-spinners Rashid Khan (36) and Adam Zampa (29), while on par with England leg-spinner Adil Rashid (25).

Kuldeep said he relished the challenge of bowling at death overs, a task that requires bravery and variety in equal measure in this age of range-hitting.

“I was able to become the first choice in bowling the last 10 overs. Even the captain felt that it’s very difficult to hit spinners when you have variations. The wicket (in Dubai) was slow, and it was good for me. I was trying to mix up the pace and wrong ones or top-spin,” he said.