Birthday special: Kuldeep Yadav – Top 3 performances in international cricket

India have produced some of the most gifted spin bowlers in their glittering cricketing history. And Uttar Pradesh’s Kuldeep Yadav will probably go down as one of the most talented bowlers. The prodigious left-arm unorthodox bowler is one of the most exciting shorter-format bowlers for India. After a lean couple of years, he is getting back to his best in national colours. On his 28th birthday, we look at some of his best performances for India.

4/18 against South Africa, 2022

The Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi hosted the third and final ODI of the series between hosts India and South Africa, with the series level at 1-1. The home side won the toss and decided to bowl first in the series decider. The Proteas lost their top four batters without breaching the 50-run mark in the innings. Kuldeep Yadav extinguished the slightest hopes of a fightback. His imperious bowling figures of 4/18 restricted the visitors to a paltry 99. India completed a routine victory in the match to clinch a memorable series victory.

5/57 against West Indies, 2018

India welcomed the West Indies for the first Test of the series at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. The home side won the toss and elected to bat first in the series opener. India compiled a mammoth score of 649 runs on the back of fluent centuries from Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja. The West Indies, in their reply, could muster only 181 runs were made to bat again as India enforced follow-on. The second innings did not go any better for the Caribbean outfit as they were rattled by Yadav’s mastery. The left-arm spinner scalped five of the top six Caribbean batters, returning with exceptional bowling figures of 5/57 as India won the series opener by an innings and 272 runs.

6/25 against England, 2018

India travelled to Nottingham to take on hosts England in the first ODI of the series at Trent Bridge. The visitors won the toss and elected to bowl first in the series opener. England made a strong start to the game with a solid opening stand but Kuldeep Yadav’s spell restricted the hosts to 268. Kuldeep returned with spectacular bowling figures of 6/25 as India rolled over their opponents by eight wickets thanks to Rohit Sharma’s swashbuckling ton in the second innings.