Kuldeep is the best spinner at the moment.
It’s not that India needed two defeats to realise why they require Kuldeep Yadav. On any day, in any team, he remains a first-choice name in an ODI XI. However, India have opted for batting depth, which has come at a big cost.
For the Australia series, particularly, his attributes would have been lethal on the kind of decks offered in the first two games. He has worked on his pace variation and developed a quicker one that zips through, which has reaped ample success for Adam Zampa at home. Additionally, Australia’s middle order has been vulnerable to spin, and his mastery could have wreaked havoc.
Zampa’s Adelaide spell further confirmed that India made a tactical blunder by employing two finger spinners. Kuldeep Yadav is easily the most skilled wrist spinner in world cricket, especially after his improvement. He is at his peak and inevitable, irrespective of the surface and weather.
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Since 2023, Kuldeep Yadav has 62 wickets at an average of 22.90 and a strike rate of 30.17 in 39 innings. This includes two four-wicket and a five-wicket haul. Among all bowlers with at least 15 ODI innings in this phase, Kuldeep has the second-best average, only after Wanindu Hasaranga.
But Hasaranga has played eight out of 32 ODIs against teams outside the top 10. If we consider his numbers only against the top 10 teams, he averages 23.47 and strikes at 27.37 in 24 innings. These are still good numbers, but it’s worth noting that Sri Lanka often play on turners at home, and his average rises to 61.37 away from home against these opponents.
The same applies to Maheesh Theekshana, who has made full use of favourable conditions in Sri Lanka and found a high place in wicket-taking charts. Meanwhile, Zampa and Adil Rashid have taken more wickets, but they average lower than Kuldeep. His economy rate (4.55) has also been miles better than Zampa’s (5.82) and Rashid’s (5.58).
Since 2024, Kuldeep Yadav has drawn 27.84% of false shots, the third-most among the above spinners. Only Theekshana (30.87%) and Rashid Khan (29.93%) have higher false strokes, but they have mostly played in favourable conditions in Sri Lanka and the UAE. Obviously, Kuldeep has also played most matches in these two countries, but Theekshana and Rashid always play here and could adapt quickly, while several of their games came against lower-ranked teams.
A good way to assess Kuldeep’s effectiveness is to compare his performances with those of other spinners in the matches he has played. Across those matches, Kuldeep has averaged 22.90 with a strike rate of 30.17, while all other spinners combined have averaged 35.43 and taken a wicket every 42.08 balls since 2023. Additionally, Kuldeep has been wicketless in only 20.51% of his total innings.
In away and neutral venues, Kuldeep has the best average (19.28) and economy rate (4.01). At this stage, we can put any filters, and he will have world-class numbers. More than these numbers, his superior skills are too hard to replicate, and no spinner in the world comes close to what he brings.
There’s a genuine wicket-taking ability, which makes him an asset. That’s why his exclusion from the ongoing Australia series is all the more shocking. The Indian management might not understand his value, but that doesn’t change the fact that Kuldeep Yadav is the best ODI bowler at the moment.
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