Fifth Test: Kuldeep Yadav bundles out England for 218 on day one
Kuldeep Yadav. He has a spring in his steps, he bounds into the crease and puts his entire body into delivering the ball. From there on, it’s like he has the ball on a string. It goes above the batman’s eyeline and then dips, dropping like a bird of prey that has its catch in sight.
On the first day of the fifth and final India-England Test at Dharamsala, Kuldeep hit his straps and he was irresistible. Once again, England had got off to a bright start, getting to 137 for 2 at a fast clip.
Zak Crawley, who was careful against the quick bowlers in an initial probing spell, settled in against the spinners, using his long reach to good effect. Kuldeep then produced a bit of magic, drawing the batsman forward and getting the ball to break sharply to defeat the bat and crash into the stumps. Crawley had made 79 of England’s runs at the time.
Ollie Pope was halfway down the pitch to Kuldeep when he was beaten in flight and off the surface for Dhruv Jurel to complete a simple stumping. Just moments earlier, Jurel could be heard on the stump mic foretelling this very mode of dismissal.
Ben Stokes, the final danger man on the list, has a tendency to hang back in his crease against the spinners, especially early in his innings and Kuldeep was keenly aware of this. The googly was out, pushed through a touch quicker, and Stokes was nailed in front of the stumps, giving Kuldeep his fifth wicket.
With Kuldeep forcing England up against the wall, Ravichandran Ashwin did his thing, mopping up the lower order to end with 4 for
