Anil Kumble hails Kuldeep Yadav's 'exceptional' performance in Ravichandran Ashwin's absence

Former India leg spinner and Test captain Anil Kumble heaped praise on the only wrist spinner of team India, Kuldeep Yadav for filling up for the absence of veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who had to withdraw himself from the 3rd Test on the eve of day 3 at Rajkot’s Niranjan Shah stadium.

Kuldeep Yadav gave India the major and much-needed breakthrough of England opener Ben Duckett. The left-hand opening batter was breathing fire throughout his presence in the middle as he was lashing out at each and every Indian bowler and the variety they used against him. It was almost as if nothing worked in front of him.

Duckett came out to bat with Zak Crawley in the closing session of day 2 and gave England the kind of start they have been giving in the series thus far. The duo were building upon something great but it was Ravi Ashwin who took the opening wicket of Crawley for just 15 which became his 500th Test scalp and 10th overall of the series.

But there was no stopping Duckett as he maintained a 100+ strike rate throughout the innings which even inflicted former cricketers to claim that this is the true color of Bazball. He made a short partnership with Ollie Pope who departed for a lbw off Mohammed Siraj before Joe Root chose to get out in the most stupidest of fashion by trying to play a reverse scoop off Jasprit Bumrah.

After Root’s dismissal, Kuldeep Yadav came into action and took the crucial wicket of Duckett for 153 off 151 in 10 overs after he removed Jonny Bairstow with an orthodox left-arm wrist spin delivery that struck the knee roll for a 4-ball duck.

Those 2 wickets proved to be the difference make as after that England got all out in a matter of time for 319 with skipper Ben Stokes scoring the 2nd highest score of 41 runs. From India’s perspective, there wasn’t any individual brilliance as Bumrah took 1, Kuldeep and Jadeja picked up a brace each and Mohammed Siraj took 4 wickets.

“The trajectory that he bowled”, Anil Kumble explains the best quality of Kuldeep Yadav’s bowling today

While speaking to Jio Cinema, Anil Kumble was fond of Kuldeep Yadav’s trajectory of bowling and how he varied on his pace and also appreciated his variations.

“Kuldeep bowled exceptionally well. The trajectory that he bowled to the left-handers. Once he got Johnny Bairstow with the LBW decision, he bowled really well. I thought the trajectory was the key, much quicker today in terms of pace and also the lines that he bowled. He got a bit of turn from the surface and his variations were impeccable, sometimes even troubled Dhruv Jurel behind the stumps.” – Kumble told Jio cinema. 

Former England cricketer Nick Knight too praised Kuldeep for his accurate line-length. “He was unplayable at times, I think, because England’s batters were struggling to pick him as well. I’m not quite sure if there’s a little bit more work, perhaps off the surface now. That’s perhaps exaggerated because they’re losing wickets, and they’re starting, and you’ve got new batters.” – Knight said via Jio cinema.