Opinion: Kuldeep Yadav has typical traits of a classical wrist spinner

Not many would differ that wrist spin is one of the most alluring parts of Cricket. When a true wrist spinner in on the job, it doesn’t get any better than that, particularly when a batsman fails to read the googly or a flipper.

Wrist spin is a difficult art to master - it is difficult for a wrist spinner to control flight and length of the ball.

There is a typical x-factor, which is heralded by the wrist spinners and same was aptly on display when Kuldeep Yadav was ripping through England’s batting line-up on July 12 during the first ODI and again during second ODI on July 14. Kuldeep was deceptive and batsmen were clueless. Kuldeep was equally fatal during the first T-20 as well.

The first time I saw Test Cricket was when India played Pakistan in Pakistan in 1982-83. Imran Khan ripped Indian batting line-up apart but it was leg-spinner Abdul Qadir who took my attention. Qadir had short but a rather interesting run-up and a lovely rhythmic release of the ball. Right since then, I developed a penchant for the wrist spin bowling. 

A few years later, the moment Shane Warne bowled that historical delivery to Mike Gatting in 1993 at Lords, he became an instant legend. Warne has not only been the greatest wrist spinner, but also one of the greatest cricketers ever.

Even Mushtaq Ahmed of Pakistan, who moulded himself on Qadir’ template, had his time. I remember that when Pakistan toured Australia for a Test series in 1995, Mushtaq had even overshadowed Shane Warne for a while.

I can state that India hasn’t produced many wrist spinners which had that typical x-factor which Qadir and Warne had. Some may give names of Anil Kumble and Chandra but let’s admit that they  were in a different league from that of a classical wrist spinner.

Amit Mishra has been good in patches but he bowls slow in the air. In the eighties, Shivramakrishnan was a promising leg-spinner but he fizzled quickly.

Thus Kuldeep Yadav has come like a fresh breeze in the Indian Cricket. He has those typical traits of a classical wrist spinner. 

But most importantly, for a fan like me, with the emergence of Kuldeep, we have a bowler with the special mojo of a classical wrist spinner.
 

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)