CHENNAI: Kuldeep Yadav had a wide smile on his face. There was a noticeable purpose in the way he walked, his celebrations had the air of a man who was enjoying life, like an unleashed golden retriever out on its evening run in the neighbourhood park.
By the time he was done with his quota of four overs — the first time he has bowled out in the Indian Premier League since September 2020 — Mumbai Indians had been pegged back. A confident start (53/0 from six overs) had made way to a muddle in the middle overs (123/4 after 16) largely thanks to the wrist-spinner's guile on a surface made tailor-made for trusting the bounce and hitting through the line, aka good batting wicket. His 3/18 (eight dots, zero boundaries) enabled Rishabh Pant to control the flow of runs after the initial onslaught. That Kuldeep also managed to tie down Ishan Kishan, who finished with an unbeaten 81 off 48, was proof of the work he was doing behind the scenes. He admitted as much after the innings.
"Very happy," he told the host broadcaster. "I have been talking to Ricky (Ponting, Delhi Capitals coach) regarding the length of the ball in T20s. I did the same with Rohit (Sharma) with the India side. It just depended on the rhythm. The wicket was good, and it didn't help me. The length has to be good to not allow the batters the time to hit. I varied my length and pace."
When there's nothing in the strip for spinners, those become big weapons for the spinners. A confident spinner relies on those subtle variations — changes in pace, using the crease and varying the length — to outfox batters. On Sunday at Brabourne Stadium, the tweaker exhibited his range in picking at least two of his three wickets. For Rohit Sharma, he didn't push it through, asking the opener to manufacture power to clear the field which he failed. Against Anmolpreet Singh, it was full with a lot of air. The batter accepted the invitation but couldn't clear long-off. Kieron Pollard will be disappointed with the way he fell because it was almost a long hop but you make your own luck in sport and Kuldeep was overdue.
It's fair to say Kuldeep had lost a bit of that confidence, self-belief in recent times. In 2020, he played five IPL games (12 overs, one wicket). In 2021, he warmed the bench during the India leg before being ruled out of the UAE leg thanks to a knee injury. Even though he played for the national team during this phase, the returns were not very satisfactory. Six wickets in eight games (five ODIs and three T20Is) revealed its own story.
During the West Indies series early this year, Rohit had hinted that a fit-again Kuldeep would very much be in his plans. Even if he wasn't trusted all that much, this team management wouldn't be averse to rekindling an old alliance (Kuldeep with Yuzvendra Chahal). More games like Sunday will only hasten that feeling.
Kuldeep 3/18 also had the desired effect because a total of 177 was slightly undercooked on a good surface. And that proved to be the case as Delhi romped home with 10 balls to spare.
Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 177/5 in 20 ovs (Ishan 81 n.o, Rohit 41, Kuldeep 3/18) lost to Delhi Capitals 179/6 in 18.2 ovs (Lalit 48 n.o, Axar 38 n.o, Thampi 3/35).