'India mein aapse bada bowler nahi hai': Pant's words and Ponting's 'Warne' reminder behind Kuldeep's comeback

One of the biggest positives for India this year has been the return of Kuldeep Yadav. In the last 12 months, Kuldeep has taken 48 wickets in 25 matches across formats since his comeback out of which, 8 have come in one Test in Bangladesh, 32 of them are in 18 ODIs at an average of 20 and a staggering economy rate of 4.82 and 8 wickets have come in 6 T20Is at an excellent economy of 5.85. In short, Kuldeep has been India's most impressive spinner in the last 12 months by some distance.

India's Kuldeep Yadav, second from left, celebrates the dismissal of West Indies' Nicholas Pooran during the fourth T20I at Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill(AP)

Kuldeep carried on with the same form in India's must-win fourth T20I against West Indies at Lauderhill in Florida. Captain Hardik Pandya handed the ball to the left-arm wrist spinner in the sixth over and the result was instantaneous.

Kuldeep evicted Nicholas Pooran and home captain Rovman Powell in that over to jolt the opposition. Pooran has tormented the Indian bowlers in this series, but Kuldeep snaffled him for the second time in as many matches to allay a big threat. Pooran tried to clear Kuldeep over long on but he failed to inject distance to the shot as Suryakumar Yadav completed a simple catch.

Kuldeep reserved his best for the opposition skipper Rovman Powell, who tried to hit Kuldeep to the on-side but the ball turned and caught the outside edge. Shubman Gill made no mistake at first slip.

West Indies suddenly found themselves at a marshy 57 for 4, losing three wickets in eight balls while adding a mere three runs Shimron Hetmyer played a brilliant 61-run knock to bring the West Indies innings back on track but even he couldn't get the better of Kuldeep, who finished with 2 for 26 in his 4 overs.

The left-arm wrist spinner's comeback story, however, is of sheer grit, determination. His career was going southwards after the 2019 World Cup. He lost his place in the Indian side and even when he was a part of the squad, he hardly played. His IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, too lost faith in him and kept him on the sidelines. He also suffered a knee injury in 2021, which prompted KKR to release Kuldeep.

It actually ended up being a turning point in his career. He was picked up by Delhi Capitals where he found the support from head coach Ricky Ponting and captain Rishabh Pant which he desperately needed.

“Ricky Ponting told him ‘I am going to play you all the matches. There is a reason Warnie (Shane Warne) likes you and I can see why. You are going to be our matchwinner’,” Kapil Pandey, Kuldeep's childhood coach told The Indian Express, while tracing back his ward's return to glory.

Pandey said Pant, who treated Kuldeep as his senior, assured the spinner of playing him in every match. “Rishabh told him ‘aapko acha karna hoga bhaiya, aapse bada bowler nahi hai India mein (you have to do well, there is no better bowler than you in India)’,” says Pandey.

“Shane Watson worked on his batting. He found a home at Delhi and you can see the performances,” added Pandey.

Kuldeep was a different bowler. He was brimming with confidence. He ended up taking 21 wickets in the IPL 2022 and never looked back.