CHENNAI: It was in Kanpur that his childhood coach Kapil Pandey asked a young Kuldeep Yadav to switch to left-arm wrist spin from fast bowling in his formative years. Kuldeep later admitted that the transition was not easy but it eventually helped him to stand out among his peers.
Years later, the wrist-spinner is expected to spin a web around his opponents in the same city with the same skill set, which he once resisted acquiring.
The rain forecast for the first three days along with the nature of the pitch at the venue could force both teams to change their playing XIs which in turn may lead to the inclusion of either Kuldeep or Axar Patel in place of the third seamer as far as India are concerned.
The second match between India and Bangladesh at the Green Park Stadium, beginning on Friday, will be Kuldeep's maiden Test in front of his home crowd if he gets into the playing XI. He made his Test debut in 2017 but has played only 12 Tests since (in the last seven years, Kanpur has hosted only one long format game, against New Zealand in 2021).
Out of 12 Tests, Kuldeep has played eight at home with his last match being against England in March early this year, which incidentally was also India's last in the format before Bangladesh came calling.
Kuldeep bamboozled England claiming a five-for in the first innings and a seven-wicket match haul helping Rohit Sharma and Co register a big win by an innings and 64 runs. The 29-year-old was adjudged player of the match for his superlative performance but was benched in the team's next Test against Bangladesh in Chennai.
Former India player and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar batted for Kuldeep's inclusion in the playing XI while speaking to ESPNCricinfo.
"I feel Kuldeep Yadav should not be dropped so easily. Even if it was not a turner, India would have benefited from playing him in Chennai because seamers get help for just one or one-and-a-half days on an Indian pitch. It starts supporting spinners after that, and when you have a bowler like Kuldeep Yadav, you should not keep him out this easily," Manjrekar had said.
He went on to say that India should include Kuldeep in the playing XI even if it's a green top in Kanpur.
"Even if it's a green top (in Kanpur) and the sun is out, they should keep in mind that the green top will be just for the first few hours, and (Mohammed) Siraj and (Jasprit) Bumrah are enough for that. When you have three proven spinners, you should play all of them."
Kanpur pitch is made of black soil transported from a pond in Bighapur, Unnao. Given the soil used for preparing the wickets, the surface will not offer true bounce as it did in Chennai where red soil was used. The slower nature of the square may also make the team management play a third spinner.
Even in the last Test played in Kanpur, wherein India hosted New Zealand three years ago, the former played with three spinners — Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar.
Born in Unnao, life will come full circle for Kuldeep if and when he unleashes his left arm wrist spin on Bangladesh batters with black soil from his birthplace aiding his skills.
Eyes on Shakib
Meanwhile, Bangladesh's star player will be monitored closely when the visitors resume training at the stadium on Wednesday morning. Shakib suffered a blow while batting on the fourth day in Chennai hurting his left index finger.
"We haven't held any practice sessions after the Chennai match. The team will train for the next two days ahead of the second match and Shakib's progress will be monitored during it. A final call on his availability will be taken after due assessment of his fitness," Bangladesh's selector Hannan Sarkar told this daily.
Both teams reached Kanpur on Tuesday and will have two practice sessions each in the next two days.
Watch out for rain
The last significant spell of rainfall from the southeast monsoon may have an impact during the course of the second Test.
While Kanpur, far away from the coast, doesn't generally see a lot of rain even during wet weather season, one of the agencies is predicting that the city could see as much as 10cms of rainfall sometime during the Test.
The forecast itself looks bleak for the first three days of the Test with precipitation comfortably exceeding 50 per cent in the afternoon.
