Shock stat! Kuldeep Yadav a better Test batter than Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant

Kuldeep Yadav shocked everyone at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati with a batting performance that felt completely unexpected but was absolutely priceless for India in the ongoing second and final Test against South Africa.

In a match where half of the team struggled to handle the Proteas attack, it was Kuldeep Yadav who stood tall and gave India the kind of fight the team badly needed.

Kuldeep Yadav stuns Guwahati with Gritty masterclass

While the final Test is all but ended for the India, the wrist-spinner’s determination became one of the biggest talking points of the match in Guwahati. Kuldeep walked in when the innings was falling apart, and alongside Washington Sundar (48), he slowly pulled India out of a deeper collapse.

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Kuldeep and Sundar stitched a gritty 72-run stand for the eighth wicket, and it took them 208 balls to do it. Kuldeep played the anchor role like a seasoned Test batter, surviving 134 balls for his 19 runs and hitting three boundaries during a time when wickets kept falling from the other end.

It was a stubborn, patient effort that forced the South African bowlers to work hard for every breakthrough. This was also the longest Kuldeep has ever batted in a Test innings, overtaking his previous effort of 28 off 131 balls against England in Ranchi in 2024.

Kuldeep Yadav surpasses Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in stunning Test batting stat

Even though India was eventually bowled out for 201 in response to South Africa’s massive first-innings total of 489 in the ongoing final Test, Kuldeep’s resistance stood out as one of the few positive moments in a tough game in Guwahati on Day 3.

What made the Indian wrist-spinner’s performance even more stunning was a new statistic that immediately started trending among the fans. Since the Bangladesh tour in 2022, Kuldeep has faced more balls per dismissal than some of India’s biggest names in Test cricket.

Kuldeep’s average balls faced per dismissal is now higher than Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and Nitish Kumar Reddy. Kuldeep has been averaging 64 balls per dismissal, while Kohli averages 62, Pant 56, Shreyas 52, Rohit 50, and Nitish 49.

Read Also: Washington Sundar’s dismissal off Simon Harmer leaves Gautam Gambhir frozen in shock in Guwahati

Kuldeep has been more solid than some of our batters in Test cricket

Average Balls faced per Dismissal (since 2022 Bangladesh tour)

64 - Kuldeep
62 - Kohli
56 - Pant
52 - Shreyas
50 - Rohit
49 - Nitish

— Krishna Kumar (@KrishnaKRM) November 24, 2025

Kuldeep Yadav shines with rare 100-ball grit

Kuldeep Yadav’s knock also stands out for another big reason. In the ongoing two-match Test series, only two Indian batters have managed to face more than 100 balls in a single innings. One of them was KL Rahul, who scored 39 off 119 balls in the first Test at the Eden Gardens, and the other is Kuldeep.

With this, the lower-order batter has been showing more patience and survival skills than some of India’s top batters, and it says a lot about Kuldeep’s discipline, but it also raises questions about India’s batting troubles in longer formats of the game, and that too in the home conditions.

Well, Marco Jansen dismissed Kuldeep with a sharp and rising delivery outside off stump. The Indian spinner tried to defend it with an open bat face, but the ball took the edge and flew quickly towards second slip, where Aiden Markram completed the tough catch to break that crucial partnership.