Kuldeep Yadav becomes greatest left-arm wrist-spinner in cricket history
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Kuldeep Yadav bagged a five-wicket haul in the first innings of the two-match Test series. He now has the most five-wicket hauls as a left-arm wrist-spinner and has attained this success in the few Test matches he has played.
India are looking forward to clinching another win in terms of innings, as they imposed the follow-on on the West Indies after they fell short of 70 runs to avoid the follow-on in the first innings of the second Test. The Windies were bowled out for 248 in front of India's mammoth 518/5 declared.
A win is on the heads of the Indians, and with two more days of play remaining ahead, the match is not going to end in a draw for sure. If this match ends in favour of the Indians, this will be Shubman Gill's fourth win as a captain and Gautam Gambhir's second Test bilateral series win.
Kuldeep Yadav enlists himself with a unique Test record
The Indian spinner made the headlines after his utter dominance against the West Indian batters on day 3. He started off the day with his spell from one end alongside Jasprit Bumrah from the other end.
He bowled tirelessly in the innings and picked 4 of the most crucial wickets in the West Indian batting order. Kuldeep finished with the figures of 5/82 in his first innings spell and marked the fifth 5-fer of his Test career.
With the wickets of Alick Athanaze, Shai Hope, Tevin Imlach, Justin Greaves, and Jaydon Seales, Kuldeep reached a new milestone in his short red-ball career. He has the most five-wicket hauls among left-arm wrist spinners in the world.
Most five-fers by left-arm wrist spinners (Tests):
5 - Kuldeep Yadav (15 Tests)
5 - Johnny Wardle (28 Tests)
4 - Paul Adams (45 Tests)
Magnificent record finds Kuldeep at the top of the world
After seeing seamers dominate proceedings in the first Test at Ahmedabad, Kuldeep Yadav, the spinner who made a comeback to Test cricket after almost a year, since he did not play in a single away Test against England earlier this year, picked 4 wickets at Ahmedabad as well.
He took matters into his own hands on Day 3 of the Second Test and cleaned up the West Indies trial of batters, with a top-notch 5-fer. The 30-year-old until now has played in 15 Tests and picked 65 wickets at an average of 21.09 and a remarkable strike rate of 36.
With this, Kuldeep Yadav scripts a record of having one of the best strike rates with a minimum of 50 wickets in the longest format of the game.
Best bowling strike rate in Test history (min 65 wickets):
34.1 - George Lohmann
36.0 - Kuldeep Yadav
38.0 - Marco Jansen
38.7 - Shane Bond
West Indies initiate the second innings with a changed approach
Unlike the previous innings, the West Indian batters have taken a much more fearless stride this time around. Despite the two early wickets of Teganarine Chanderpaul and Alick Athanaze, opener John Campbell and Shai Hope have shifted gears and counter-attacked the Indian spinners.
After Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were taken for runs, the star spinner from the first innings was called in. However, they welcomed him with a 16-run opening over. Kuldeep Yadav held onto his grit and brought down his economy; however, the fearless attitude from the Windies batters seemed to have intimidated the Indian bowlers to some extent.
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India National Cricket Team Kuldeep Yadav West Indies National Cricket Team India vs West Indies West Indies tour of India
