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Follow UsRishabh Pant took a brave call at a crunch moment against Rajasthan Royals in Match 56. While Sanju Samson was in cruise control in a run chase of 222, Pant held back the last over of his most economical bowler and his best chance at dismissing Samson, Kuldeep Yadav. He had bowled three by the 12th over, with figures of 0/21, while RR were going at 9.4 runs per over.
The thought process was that Samson might play Kuldeep out, making it easy for him to hit the pacers later in batting-friendly conditions. The RR skipper had scored only 11 off the wrist-spinner’s nine deliveries until then. The upside was Kuldeep’s chances against RR’s finishers. In the absence of Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep had the chance to spin Rovman Powell (poor record against wrist spin) and Donovan Ferreira (no experience of facing him before) out of the game in the death overs.
But the risk was giving Samson pacers to attack in the middle overs. Pant played the punt that the seamers would hold Samson for a few overs and probably get him out, so that Kuldeep can be brought for a final over against Powell and Ferreira. Should he then keep the run count in that over under six, it would bring Delhi Capitals right back into the game.
Samson was out under mildly controversial circumstances for 86 in the 16th over. Kuldeep was brought in the 18th over and did exactly what Pant wanted from him.
He nabbed Ferreira on the first ball of the over. Off the next four balls, he conceded a single each before picking R Ashwin on the last. Powell didn’t attack him owing to his negative match-up. Kuldeep finished with figures of 2/25 in four overs in a match where 422 runs were scored. RR were 37 runs behind the target with only 12 balls and Powell left as a specialist batter. DC won by 20 runs. Kuldeep’s last over turned the match.
Kuldeep is a big reason why Delhi are still in the hunt for the playoffs. They were one of the first few sides to be eliminated last year. When they lost four of their first five games this year, it seemed like a sorry repeat of the 2023 season. However, Kuldeep didn’t play three of these games due to injury.
In the second half, that is their last seven matches, Delhi have won five. Jake Fraser-McGurk’s explosive start to his IPL career has given Delhi the identity of a six-hitting side with bowling being their weaker suit. Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore have similar team structures.
Most of these teams have a pacer to hold the fort in their weaker suits. Jasprit Bumrah for MI and Tushar Deshpande for CSK are a couple of examples. KKR rely on their spin duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy to do the heavy lifting. For Delhi, that bowler is Kuldeep. Batters have looked to play him out like Bumrah, Narine or Chakaravarthy.
Despite missing three games, he is Delhi’s joint second-highest wicket-taker (14) and has the second-best economy rate (8.2) and the best bowling average (20.5). His 3/20 against Lucknow Super Giants and 2/20 against Gujarat Titans are other games where Kuldeep has pulled the game in DC’s favor with his striking abilities. And when he has gone wicketless, Kuldeep has still created a positive impact with his economy. In five out of nine matches, he has had a better economy than the average run rate of the fixture.
These are excellent numbers in a season in which spinners' relevance has gone down, especially in the first half of the season. Teams like CSK have overhauled their strategy, bowling much less spin than in previous years. In fact, only four spinners have both averaged and conceded runs at a lesser rate than the season’s average numbers as yet. Kuldeep is the only wrist spinner in this list.
Delhi’s spin duo of Kuldeep and Axar Patel was one of the very few strong aspects of their squad before the start of the season. Both of them clicking has given Delhi’s pace attack (the most expensive in the competition at 11.2 runs per over) some breathing space.
Axar has been economical while Kuldeep has picked wickets. Last year, when Delhi finished ninth on the points table, they were the most economical spin bowling side but didn’t pick as many wickets. Axar has similar numbers as last year but Kuldeep being among wickets has kept DC afloat.
The 2022 mega auction did Delhi more harm than good. Their core team from the 2018-21 cycle, which qualified for three years in a row, was dismantled. However, the mega auction also fetched them Kuldeep at only INR 2 crore.
In three seasons with DC, Kuldeep has picked more wickets than he did in five seasons with KKR. 2022 was also the year that turned his fortunes in international cricket.
29 years old now, Kuldeep has started to vary his pace in a bigger margin — sometimes bowling over 110 kph – instead of only looping the ball. He has also begun attacking the stumps more, which is evident in his bowled/lbw dismissal percentage for KKR (15%) and DC (27%).
These factors have rejuvenated Kuldeep’s international as well as his IPL career. That way, Delhi pouched Kuldeep just at the right time.
From only one wicket in four games for KKR in 2020 to being picked for only INR 2 crore by Delhi, Kuldeep is now highly likely to be retained before the upcoming auction cycle as one of DC’s marquee players. But first things first, Delhi are still in the race for the playoffs this season and the left-arm wristspinner will play a vital role in the remaining two league matches.
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