India v Australia, third ODI, over 12.2 – Steven Smith caught KL Rahul bowled Hardik Pandya. At first glance, the aforementioned line just seems like a mere statistic from a scorecard. But there is a bit more significance attached to the dismissal. The India all-rounder had removed Travis Head in his previous over with a back of a length delivery. However, for Smith, he made a subtle change in his length as he slipped in a fuller length ball and dangled the carrot outside off. The Australia captain duly obliged by edging one to the ‘keeper.
Hardik continued to show his versatility. In the 15th over, he once again tried different lengths: good length, fuller length, back of a length and short. Hardik’s aggressive mindset paid him rich dividends as on a wicket that offered a bit of low bounce, Mitchell Marsh edged one onto the stumps.
If we scratch the surface, we can excavate more evidence of Hardik’s readiness to upskill his bowling. In the T20I series played against Sri Lanka this year, he had showcased the ability to bowl the inswinger alongside the away-swinger with the new ball. In the Indian limited overs set-up, Hardik has certainly grown in stature. Perhaps Jasprit Bumrah’s absence due to a back injury has motivated Hardik to shoulder more responsibility?
Incidentally, after putting up a match winning all-round performance (four wickets and 71 runs) against England at Old Trafford last year, Hardik had said: “I knew that Jasprit was not going to play this game. Obviously, yes, when someone like him (is injured)… he was telling me, ‘you may have to bowl a couple of overs in the death as well’ (and) I said, ‘very big shoes to fill’. I had to step up, not at the death, but in making sure that in the middle overs I got the breakthroughs. Whenever things happen to me, the way I planned, it gives confidence.”
Kuldeep Yadav was the other shining light in India’s bowling effort. The highlight of his three wickets in the final ODI was the way he snaked through the defence of Alex Carey. Until that particular moment, Carey looked to be in fine touch and then it happened. In the 39th over, Kuldeep pitched one on middle and leg-stump and then the ball turned viciously to castle a bewildered Carey.
The wicketkeeper-batter certainly didn’t pick Kuldeep as he was initially looking to work it through the on-side, only to be opened up by the turn. Carey isn’t the only batter who is a part of Kuldeep’s collection of believe-it-or-not deliveries. In the 2019 World Cup, the mainstay of Pakistan batting unit Babar was done in by a rip-roaring googly. Kuldeep also bagged the key scalps of Marnus Labuschagne and David Warner.
In fact, not long ago, the left-arm wrist-spinner was paddling through a rough path. But over the last one year, Kuldeep seems to have regained some of his confidence, which is evidenced by the 27 wickets he has taken in 16 ODIs at an average of 24.07 since the start of the series versus the West Indies.
So what could be the key factors behind Kuldeep finding his mojo again? The wrist-spinner seems to be again imparting more than enough revs on the ball. Even when Kuldeep is bowling quicker through the air, he is getting enough bite on his deliveries. He can also slip in the slider when needed.
“I played the India A series here, so I knew the wicket was slow, so I was trying to spin the ball more. Those were important wickets and especially I loved the one against Alex Carey. I have been working on it, trying to bowl within the wickets, from there if I can spin the ball, so there is a lot of chance to get caught behind, there is a chance to get top-edge on slog just like David Warner did.
“The way Marsh started, probably thought they would get close to 300 but the way Hardik bowled, he got 3 wickets and got us back in the game. But it’s a slow track, so we have to bat carefully,” Kuldeep said after Australia’s innings to the official broadcaster, Star Sports.
After losing the ODI series against Australia, the home side has a lot of brainstorming to do. With quite a few worry lines acting as a hurdle, India’s home fortress suddenly seems more vulnerable. Amid all the gloom, the Indian think-tank would take heart from the impressive performances of Kuldeep and Hardik.