Greatest comeback in history: Kuldeep Yadav named India's 'trump card' as Piyush Chawla warns England ahead of semi-final

World Cup winner Piyush Chawla believes that wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav is going to be the trump card for India in the T20 WC 2024 semi-final. 

Piyush Chawla's comments came on the eve of the Indian team's clash against Jos Buttler's England in the 2nd semi-final of the 2024 T20 World Cup. This will be a day match, which is going to be telecasted in prime time at 8:00 PM in the Indian sub-continent and it will take place at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.

All eyes will be on Indian players like - Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Kuldeep Yadav among others. Team India have to put up the type of performance against England like they had against Mitchell Marsh's Australia in their previous T20 WC game. The Men in Blue, after setting up a 200+ total, went on to win by 24 runs at the Darren Sammy Stadium in St. Vincent.

In that game, Arshdeep Singh had starred with 3 wickets with Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel picking up a wicket each. There was also an unsung hero - Kuldeep Yadav, who bowled all of his four overs efficiently, conceding only 6 runs per over while picking up a brace of wickets on the way. 

During the semi-final against England later today, former leg-spinner Piyush Chawla feels Kuldeep Yadav will once again be among the wickets. 

Piyush Chawla feels Kuldeep Yadav's absence in the 2022 T20 WC semi-final was felt 

While speaking to Star Sports recently, Piyush Chawla spoke about the impact that Kuldeep Yadav is capable of causing in a particular game. The Chinaman, who did not play in the 2022 T20 WC due to an injury, apparently had one of the greatest comebacks in the Indian team, according to Chawla. 

That Kuldeep Yadav could have made a major difference in the 2022 T20 WC semi-final for a number of factors. Firstly his unorthodox left-arm wrist spin, ability to generate spin and bounce followed by his variations. 

"Kuldeep Yadav’s resurgence has been one of the greatest comebacks in the history of Indian cricket. His absence in the 2022 semi-final was a significant miss for India, but this time, he’s in prime form and ready to make a substantial impact. Kuldeep’s unorthodox left-arm wrist spin and the ability to extract turn and bounce, coupled with his deceptive variations, can be a game-changer in the middle overs," Chawla told Star Sports. 

Kuldeep to be India's gamechanger

Piyush Chawla then said that since Kuldeep Yadav has a good record of playing against England, he will find it easy to play to disrupt their batting order. Thanks to his current form and confidence, Chawla believes Kuldeep will be India's game-changer and the trump card. 

"He also has a good record playing against England. In the upcoming semi-final, Kuldeep will be crucial in disrupting England’s aggressive batting mantra. He will be India’s trump card against England’s explosive batting order. Given his current form and confidence, Kuldeep Yadav is poised to be a significant threat, making the middle overs a challenging period for England batsmen," Piyush Chawla concluded.