Team India cruised to 2023 Asia Cup final earlier this week when the side defeated Sri Lanka in a dramatic finish in Colombo. Despite being restricted to 213 after opting to bat, India made a stellar comeback as they bowled the hosts out on 172, with left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav shining once again. After an impressive five-wicket haul against Pakistan, Kuldeep continued on his brilliant run as he took four wickets against Sri Lanka, taking his overall tally in the ongoing Asia Cup to 9 wickets in 4 matches.
The spinner has been remarkable since India’s return to the ODI format post the Indian Premier League; he was the side’s leading bowler in the three matches against West Indies and was also a key player in the T20Is in the Caribbean. Kuldeep was later selected in India’s 15-member squad for the 2023 World Cup, and his impressive form comes as a massive boost to Rohit and his men as they chase a first ICC trophy in over 10 years.
As Kuldeep continues on his impressive run, former India opener Aakash Chopra made a massive remark on the India left-arm spinner. Aakash insisted that Kuldeep is currently the “best spinner” in the world and stated that even as he has “no mystery,” Kuldeep still ends up among wickets.
“I feel Kuldeep is the best spinner in the world at the moment. If you see Kuldeep Yadav’s numbers, you say he is a proper wicket-taker. We are talking about spinners who have taken 150 ODI wickets. Firstly, 150 wickets is a very good number, it is not a small sample size,” Aakash said on his official YouTube channel.
“He has taken only 85 innings to pick up 150 wickets. He has a strike rate of 30.1. He is special because he is orthodox. If you talk about Ajantha Mendis and Rashid Khan, they had or have mystery. This guy has no mystery. He bowls normal leg-spin and googly and traps you with that itself.”
Team India meets Bangladesh in its final Super 4 match in the Asia Cup on Friday; Bangladesh are already eliminated from the tournament after successive Super 4 defeats to Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
