NEW DELHI:
Dharamshala
was the ground where
Kuldeep Yadav
made his Test debut, against
Australia
in 2017. The left-arm wrist-spinner had taken 4 wickets in the Test as India had defeated the Aussies by 8 wickets.
Cut to 2024 and
Kuldeep
was back at the picturesque ground surrounded by the Dauladhar hill-range. The opponents this time are
England
, the 'old enemy' of the Aussies.
With the series already in the pocket, Kuldeep had a spring in his step having struck in his first over with Shubman Gill taking an excellent catch.
But the icing on the cake for Kuldeep was the dismissal of England captain
Ben Stokes
for a duck, trapped in front of the wickets with a googly. Stokes even took a review but even that could not save him as the replays showed he was out indeed.
This is Kuldeep's fourth five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
With this feat, Kuldeep also broke the records of
Axar Patel
and
Jasprit Bumrah
to bowl least balls taken to get to 50 Test wickets for India.
Kuldeep got to the mark in 1871 deliveries, while Axar took 2205 and Bumrah accounted for 2520 deliveries to get to the mark.
Not just that, Kuldeep also became the third left-arm wrist-spinner to take 50-plus Test wickets after South Africa's Paul Adams (134) and England's Johnny Wardle (102).
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