The resurgence of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal

Chahal and Kuldeep have performed exceptionally for their respective teams in the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL).

Left-arm wrist spinners come at a premium, since the art is a rare one. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) got one in the form of Kuldeep Yadav back in 2016. The tweaker was still taking baby steps among the big boys of cricket and the Indian Premier League (IPL) contract with the two-time champions would have done his confidence a world of good.

In the very next year, he was called up to the Indian team and soon, he became one of their prominent wicket takers. In fact, Kuldeep went on to pick up two hat-tricks in ODI cricket and racked up a six-wicket haul against Tim Paine’s Australia in the 2018-19 Border Gavaskar Trophy Test match at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground.

While he operated with Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the longest format, he got an apt partner in Yuzvendra Chahal in limited-overs cricket. The duo made inroads into the opposition batting lineups with the utmost ease. Like Kuldeep, Chahal was also in the early stages of his international career after performing well for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

The world seemed a beautiful place to live in for both Kuldeep and Chahal. However, as they say, all good things come to an end, the wrist spinners were about to enter a tough phase of their sojourn. To start with, Kuldeep didn’t feature in the playing elevens, although he kept being a part of the squad.

Kuldeep’s IPL career also went for a toss. In 2019 and 2020, he played 14 matches and picked up only five wickets. In 2021, he didn’t play a single match for KKR after he was ruled out due to a knee injury. The 2021 IPL edition also started on a rough note for Chahal, who strained to perform in the India leg of the tournament.

To add insult to injury, India preferred the less experienced Rahul Chahar ahead of him for the T20 World Cup 2021. From being indispensable members of the Men in Blue for more than three years, both Chahal and Kuldeep found themselves out of Team India.

The snub didn’t go down well with Chahal, who made a stupendous comeback in the UAE leg of IPL 2021. But despite him bowling well, he couldn’t break into the national team for the multi-nation tournament in October and November.