Kuldeep Yadav finds shades of his old magic

Kuldeep Yadav knows that he is expected to take wickets. A left-arm wrist-spinner isn't the most common sight around and for a while, the novelty of being one got him wickets.

- Rasesh Mandani

Then, his variations made him virtually unplayable. But eventually such quirks don't amount to much.

Once the batters get used to them, the bowler starts struggling. That happened to Kuldeep as well but he worked on his run-up and the pace of delivery and became even better. At the core of his improvement was the manner in which he attacks the batter. Here is a bowler who is no longer afraid of getting hit and that is where it begins.

After going wicketless in the first match against Bangladesh, Kuldeep would have felt some pressure to keep his place in the playing XI with the mystery spin option in Varun Chakravarthy still at India's disposal. But in a spell that showed why he is so highly regarded by the team management, he showed that he is back to his best with a splendid 3-wicket haul against Pakistan on Sunday.

It was Kuldeep's first matchdefining performance after returning from a groin surgery.