Asia Cup 2023: Kuldeep Yadav has shown that he can make a difference, says Sunil Gavaskar

Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar feels Kuldeep Yadav has shown that he can make a difference. Yadav has been in magnificent form in the recent past and he has delivered the goods consistently for the team. Before the Asia Cup final, the left-arm spinner has scalped nine wickets in four matches of the tournament at an average of 11.33.

Kuldeep scalped a five-wicket haul against Pakistan in the Supers Four stage whereas he returned with impressive figures of 4-43 against Sri Lanka in India’s 41-run win.

With it, Kuldeep also completed the landmark of 150 wickets and took only 85 innings to get to the milestone.

In the 15 ODIs of 2023, Yadav has picked up 31 wickets at an average of 15.48. In fact, Kuldeep could only take eight wickets in nine matches in 2020 and 2021 and thus got limited chances in the playing XI. In 2022, Kuldeep snared 12 wickets in eight games at an average of 27.75 to get back to form.

“Kuldeep has shown that he can make a difference. Wrist spin, whether it is right-arm of left-arm, can get you wickets. And wickets are the best dot balls in limited overs cricket. Also, the fact that he is bowling a little flatter, not giving that much air, getting the ball to spin, makes him difficult to play,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying to India Today.

On the other hand, Dinuth Wellalage had troubled the Indian batters in the Super Fours stage, returning with 5-40 in his quota of 10 overs. The Little Master added that Indian batters should use their feet to get to the pitch of the ball against the left-arm spinner in the Asia Cup final.

“I think they would try and get to the pitch of the ball as quickly as possible. It’s not an easy wicket to always toss the ball up. But every time he gives the ball a little bit of air, drive him with quick footwork. Unless the pitch is flat and there is not much turn, don’t look to loft him. Make him think,” he added.