T20 World Cup 2024: Kuldeep Yadav Stats In IPL 2024

After India enters into the Super 8 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, by winning 3-back-to-back matches, every cricket fan wants to know when the Indian captain Rohit Sharma will pick India’s Chinamen Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI. Just before the start of the tournament, when the Indian captain was asked why he had gone with 4 spinners for the Marquee event, he opined that the Caribbean conditions were going to favour the spinners and in the slow pitches of the West Indies, he can be going with 4 spin options in the playing XI. However, we haven’t seen any changes in the playing XI till now in the tournament as most of India's group stage matches were played in USA and Florida, which assist fast bowlers. However, after India’s inclusion in the Super 8s, there are chances that Rohit and co. might be making some changes in the playing in the upcoming matches against Afghanistan and USA.

One of the key changes, that the Indian team will be making- especially against the Australians will be adding Kuldeep Yadav to the playing XI as he is one of the spinners who could be difficult to play for any batter when he is getting some help from the wickets and after looking at the turning wicket of Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, which offers assistance to spinner especially during the morning games, Kuldeep Yadav should must-be the part of India's playing 11 in the upcoming match against Australia.

You must be thinking, despite having star spinners like Jadeja, Axar and Chahal in the squad, why are we talking about Kuldeep Yadav’s inclusion in the playing 11? Through this news piece, we are going to take you Kuldeep Yadav’s importance for Men in Blue in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 and stats in IPL 2024.

Kuldeep Yadav is undoubtedly one of the best wrist spinners around the world, who gets a lot of turns from the pitch due to his Chinamen action having both off-break and googlies options in hand, which makes him difficult to pick for any batter in the world. The Chinamen has been making a return to the Indian team after an impressive performance in the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) from Delhi Capitals franchise, where he picked 16 wickets in 11 games with an efficient economy of 8.65, conceding just 372 runs 41 overs.

Apart from a little bit of change in his action, the Kanpur-born boy has also worked on his fitness at NCA after sustaining a knee injury in September 2021 due to which he was released by Kolkata Knight Riders franchise ahead of the mega auction, irrespective of being a match winner over the years. However, the Delhi-based franchise picked him on the mega-auction at a base price of 2 Crores and he didn’t disappoint the management as in the first season for the Delhi Capitals, he picked 21 wickets in 14 matches.

Kuldeep Yadav’s Recent Form

Another reason why Kuldeep Yadav deserves a place in India’s Playing XI as he is the only bowler who can turn the ball in both ways, which makes it difficult to pick the ball. Despite this, if we look at the Chinamen's recent performance for Men in Blue in Asia Cup 2023, he picked 5 wickets haul against Pakistan while conceding just 25 runs. Not only that, the wrist-spinner finished the year as the highest wicket-taking bowler, with 49 wickets coming in 2023. 

If we look at Kuldeep Yadav’s Performance in the ICC event, which he played last year in India he finished the tournament with 15 wickets in the 11 games he played before losing the big final against Australia. He was the key bowler for the Indian team, which led them to go undefeated till the final. 

After the main event, Yadav was picked in the Test Match against England in the five-match Test series at home, where he picked up 19 wickets. His services will be relied on once again as the wicket-taking bowler will have a crucial role in India’s quest for silverware in the upcoming T20 World Cup.