The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
The turn of the Chinaman
Armed with a newly-developed flipper Kuldeep Yadav has made an early impact in the Duleep Trophy
IT WAS the flipper — a flattish delivery on off stump, one that straightened enough to trap India Green wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel plumb in front in the second innings on Day 3 — which showed that Kuldeep Yadav had made progress. The wicket would be special because the ball which skids on is one the left-arm chinaman bowler, has worked hard to add to his repertoire.
With the pink ball, Kuldeep got ample bite from the Greater Noida track and finished with match figures of 9/120. In the process, Kuldeep also registered his first 5-wicket haul in first class cricket, and his efforts helped his team — India Red register a comprehensive 219-run win over India Green.
The jury on the pink ball is still out, but anybody who has seen Kuldeep operate in the recently concluded Day/night Duleep Trophy encounter will agree that the chinaman bowler has made rapid strides, and is surely a talent to watch out for in the future. Seeing the 21-year-old perform in the IPL, former captain Sunil Gavaskar has given a “honest advice” to the Indian selectors to keep an eye on the young left-arm spinner.
Ever since Kuldeep made his way into the Uttar Pradesh Ranji Trophy squad two seasons ago, he has been consistent, though not very prolific. But now he had developed a potent flipper, a weapon he concedes he has picked up from Bradd Hogg during the IPL last year. “It was fantastic to interact with Brad Hogg. He helped me a lot, and helped me develop my flipper," Kuldeep said.
However, watching a young left-arm chinaman bowler in full flight under lights was perhaps the best possible appraisal the first Duleep Trophy duel needed. Apart from his impeccable control, what stood out the most about the Kanpur lad was his ability to outhink the batsmen.
Take the instance the manner in which he dismissed Robin Uthappa. Chasing 497, the 30-year-old opener was in an imperious mood. Kuldeep's first ball of his fifth over was a full and aimed at Uthappa's off and middle, which he swept powerfully past the squareleg fence for a boundary. Kuldeep followed it up with a much slower delivery — one that was pitched on a good length that drew the Green opener forward. In the end, all Uthappa did was to edge it to the slips. Under the circumstances, it was a prized scalp for Kuldeep and his team. The dismissal was brought about through an alteration in length, and slowing up his pace ever so marginally.
“I had bowled to Robin bhai before, so I knew what to expect. He is an aggressive batsman. In this case, I had just changed my length to keep him guessing. Thankfully, my plan worked," he explained. For the sheer beauty of the dismissal, Kuldeep rated Sandeep Sharma's wicket in India Green's second innings as his personal favourite amongst his nine scalps. "It was the perfect chinaman's dismissal.itloopedandcurvedinbeautifully...and beat the batsman comprehensively."
Much before he had plotted Robin Uthappa's demise at the Duleep Trophy, and had orchestrated Sandeep Sharma's scalp, Kuldeep narrated with utmost glee the manner in which he had dismissed AB De Villiers during a practice T20 game against the touring Proteas side at the Palam ground in the national capital. De Villiers had come in to the crease and had flayed all the bowlers. But Kuldeep managed to keep him quiet for a while. After playing out three dot balls, De Villiers went for a mighty slog over the midwicket fence. Instead, gets a top edge, only to be snapped up by the wicket-keeper. "My plan against him (AB) was simple. Since he is so adept at playing all-round the wicket, I aimed at his body and did not allow him to free his arms. He played a couple of dot balls after which he went for a non-existent slog," Kuldeep said.
Improved fitness
Going forward, he exuded confidence of his own personal form ahead of the long domestic season.
"Personally, I am confident of how I am bowling right now. Mera release (of the ball) ekdum sahi aa raha hain. So I am happy...the two things that I have been doing in my off season was to work on my fitness and keep bowling long stints at the nets, and I think this has helped me in this match" he noted. One suspects the ninewicket haul here in Greater Noida may just be the start of bigger things to come. True, an India cap still looks like a distant dream for Kuldeep. But his feats with the pink ball had definitely given him confidence — confidence of finding success in a rare profession at the highest level. A young chinaman bowler coming through the ranks is indeed an exciting proposition, and currently Kuldeep's career is on the upward swing.
Dew a factor
Judging by the manner in which the pink ball lost its shape and had to be changed twice in the evening session on Day 3 because of the due, Kuldeep said he had serious doubts about its durability to withstand the dew during the winters in North India. "I think it (dew) was a major concern yesterday. The ball went out of shape, and had to be changed twice. As a spinner, I was finding it difficult to grip the ball. Going by what happened yesterday, hosting a Day/night game with the pink ball in the winters in North India is definitely not an option," Yadav said after India Red's win over Green on Friday. He reckoned that since the pink Kookaburra ball did not have a protruding seam as compared to the traditional Duke ball, and hence spinners would find it difficult to grip it.
"The seam is an issue. I think the spinners will take time to get used to it," he said. While visibility of the pink ball was not an area of concern, Kuldeep insisted he had issues in sighting the glazed ball while batting during the evening session. "As a batsman, I am used to only seeing one shiny side of the red ball. In this case, since the ball retains its shine for a longer period, it was difficult to gauge which way the pink ball was swinging because both sides were shiny," he added.