Kuldeep Yadav turns 26: A look at his astonishing feats
Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav turned 26 on Monday. The left-arm wrist-spinner, who started his journey as a seamer, is one of the prominent bowlers in world cricket. In a three-year-old international career, Kuldeep has already broken plenty of records across formats. The budding spinner has grabbed eyeballs with his effective variations, especially in white-ball cricket. We take a look at his major records.
Kuldeep in international cricket
Kuldeep made his international debut against Australia in the 2017 Dharamsala Test. He bamboozled the Australians with his leggies, taking four wickets in the first innings. Overall, he has picked up 24 wickets from six Tests, including two five-wicket hauls. Meanwhile, his exploits in white-ball remain indispensable. Notably, Kuldeep has taken 105 ODI and 39 T20I wickets at 26.45 and 13.76 respectively.
First Chinaman to play for India in Test cricket (men's)
Kuldeep was the first-ever left-arm wrist-spinner to represent India in Test cricket (men's). However, he hasn't yet cemented his spot in the Test side, with the presence of senior bowlers Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Notwithstanding, the former has still clinched the limited opportunities.
Fastest Indian spinner to 100 ODI wickets
In 2020, Kuldeep became the fastest Indian spinner to take 100 wickets in One-Day Internationals. He achieved the feat in his 58th match, during the Rajkot ODI against Australia. Overall, he became the third-fastest Indian to do so, after Mohammed Shami (56) and Jasprit Bumrah (57). Among spinners, Harbhajan Singh follows Kuldeep on the tally. He completed 100 wickets in 76 matches.
First Indian to take two international hat-tricks
In 2017, Kuldeep became the third Indian after Chetan Sharma and Kapil Dev to take a hat-trick in an ODI. He attained the feat at the Eden Gardens against Australia. Two years later, the wrist-spinner took the world by storm as he clinched a second hat-trick in the format (vs WI). By doing so, he became the first-ever Indian to claim two international hat-tricks.
First left-arm wrist-spinner with five-for in T20Is
It is interesting to note that Kuldeep has the best bowling average in T20Is (13.76) among Indians. In 2018, he became the first left-arm wrist-spinner to take a five-wicket haul in the shortest format. He achieved the feat in the first T20I against England (5/24, Manchester). Also, Kuldeep is the the third Indian after Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to do so in T20Is.
A look at other interesting records of Kuldeep
In the first ODI against England (2018), Kuldeep grabbed his maiden ODI five-for. He registered bowling figures of 6/25, the best by a left-arm spin bowler in the format. Three months later, he mustered his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket (5/57 vs WI). Hence, Kuldeep became only the second Indian after Bhuvneshwar Kumar to take five-wicket hauls across all three formats.
