On this day: CWC 2019 – Kuldeep Yadav stuns Babar and the world
Chasing 337 runs to win, Pakistan were well poised at 117/1 in 23.5 overs. The partnership for the second wicket, well past 100, was putting the Indians under pressure. A breakthrough was needed desperately. It came and how!
Kuldeep Yadav, the left-arm wrist-spinner, gave ample flight to the last ball of his sixth over. With extra revolutions on the ball, the ball drifted in the air towards the off-side and pitched on good length well outside off-stump. Babar Azam, batting on 48, prodded tentatively. To his dismay, the delivery turned inwards sharply, took the inside edge and crashed into the stumps. Pakistan lost all the momentum that was built up in the innings and soon collapsed in a heap.
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Leading into the World Cup, IPL 2019 was followed with much scrutiny. Fitness of Indian players taking part in the global tournament was watched keenly so was their performance in the tournament. Kuldeep, one part of India’s magical spinning duo, was disappointing, to say the least. He was ‘rested’ after playing nine matches in the season. In these appearances for Kolkata Knight Riders, he conceded 8.66 runs per over while picking up only four wickets.
In a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kuldeep conceded 27 runs (26 off the bat plus 1 wide) in an over and ended the match with figures of 1/59 — the joint-most expensive spell by a spin bowler in IPL history. Later on the field, he was teary-eyed and was being consoled by his team-mates. He was not selected for any remaining matches in the season.
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In India’s warm-up match against New Zealand, Kuldeep went wicketless despite bowling an eight-over spell. He showed the signs of getting into the groove by claiming 3/47 against Bangladesh. In the main tournament, the wrist-spinner went through another dry patch. In the first two games versus South Africa and Australia, Kuldeep snared only one wicket while conceding 101 runs in his 19 overs. The murmurs of his being booted from the side were getting strong with the high-profile clash against Pakistan coming up.
The team management stuck with Kuldeep and the spinner strengthened their trust with a magical performance. According to Cricviz, the ball that Kuldeep bowled Babar with, turned 5.8° which is much higher than his career average spin of 3.6°. The left-arm bowler not only dismissed Babar but also sent back Fakhar Zaman who had raced to 62. He finished with the numbers of 9-1-32-2, enough to put all the discussion about his omission to rest. In the process, he also gave us a strong contender of the ‘ball of the tournament’.
Watch Kuldeep Yadav’s magical delivery to dismiss Babar Azam, and all the other Pakistan wickets #INDvPAK #CWC19 #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/ybqvLYy9Ul
— ICC (@ICC) June 16, 2019
