The West Indies made India toil hard on the Delhi surface, which didn’t deteriorate as much, and kept the hosts in the field for close to 82 overs, before Kuldeep Yadav brought the much-awaited end to the innings, registering his fifth fifer in Tests.
After being benched for the whole England tour, Kuldeep Yadav made his much-awaited return to Test cricket in the ongoing series against the West Indies and, in just his second appearance, reiterated with a five-wicket haul how important an asset he is with the ball, being a wicket-taker. Kuldeep, the highest wicket-taker for the series as of now (9), along with other bowlers, was made to toil hard for his wickets by the West Indies batters on a Delhi track, which still hadn’t deteriorated much and if applied properly, there were runs to be scored.
So, where did the wickets come from? The ones which went straight and the batters played for the turn, having not read him from the hand, like Shai Hope, or the ones which just turned enough to deceive the batters in the air as Kuldeep has some sort of mastery over that. The 30-year-old equalled the world record for most Test fifers by a left-arm wrist spinner as he equalled Johnny Wardle’s feat, the former England bowler, who bowled both left-arm orthodox as well as with his wrist.
Most five-wicket hauls by left-arm wrist spinners in Tests
5 – Kuldeep Yadav (15 matches)
5 – Johnny Wardle (28 matches)
4 – Paul Adams (45 matches)
Kuldeep had scalped four wickets by the 56th over of the innings and the lower order frustrated the Indian bowlers and fielders for the next 25 overs. Mohammed Siraj cleaned up Jomel Warrican and Jasprit Bumrah ended Khary Pierre’s 46-ball stay. Since Kuldeep was close to his landmark, the Indian captain Shubman Gill kept bowling him for a longer spell, which eventually bore fruit, and by then the spinner had sent down almost 27 overs.
This was Kuldeep’s fifth five-wicket haul in his 15th Test match and the third in the World Test Championship.
The West Indies were skittled out for 248, 70 runs short of saving the follow-on and the Indian team enforced it. The visitors didn’t offer much resistance in Ahmedabad and there the track too showed cracks and footmarks on it from the second day onwards, while Delhi was better in terms of spending time in the middle and keeping India in the field for almost a day in one innings.
India had declared after scoring 518/5 in the first innings, set up by Yashasvi Jaiswal’s mammoth 175, followed by skipper Shubman Gill’s 10th Test century.