Leeds, Sep 14 (IANS) India’s left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has promised to return to the County Championship after picking a career-best 10-wicket match haul to spin Yorkshire to an innings-and-106-run victory over Essex at Headingley.
Kuldeep took 4-70 in the first innings before returning figures of 6-50 in the second innings and grabbed his first ten-wicket performance in first-class cricket, which in turn secured Yorkshire’s Division One status inside three days.
Kuldeep, who joined Yorkshire on a short-term contract in July, earned the County Championship Player of the Round award for his match figures of 10-120. “When I was about to get the sixth one, I thought, ‘Give me one more, let me complete the ten-wicket haul!’ It’s not the home conditions that I grew up playing in, but this is the ultimate home now, so playing here and getting a ten-for, it’s been so good,” he said in a statement on Monday.
Kuldeep dismantled the Essex middle order across both innings on a surface that offered assistance to spin, and adjusted his line and pace to exploit footmarks outside the stumps. “It looked like a good wicket to bat on. In the first innings, there was not much turn. It wasn’t a rank turner; Headingley is not known for that, so I was just trying to make the batters make mistakes.
“Then in the second innings I was trying to use the footmarks to bring the ball from outside to the stumps. That was the plan, and using more angles to make the batters uncomfortable.”
Yorkshire head coach Anthony McGrath praised Kuldeep’s control and tactical adaptability following the victory. “You could see how much he spins it and his control of spin was just sensational. If you looked at how he put his overs together – over the wicket, round the wicket… he was setting the batters up.”
Kuldeep’s initial stint was disrupted by his presence in India’s squad for the 1-0 Test series win in Sri Lanka before he featured in Yorkshire’s defeat to Surrey at The Oval. However, his performance against Essex underlined his match-winning capabilities in red-ball cricket as Yorkshire prepare for their next fixture against Somerset.
“It’s nice to be here, everyone is so kind and very humble, and they’ve been very welcoming. If you look at our team, we’ve got lovely lads, lovely young talent in the squad, so to play alongside them feels so good. I’ll definitely come back, that’s a promise.”
McGrath indicated that Yorkshire would be eager to sign Kuldeep for a future campaign. “We’d bite his hand off, wouldn’t we? He’s an amazing character and his passion for the game… he just loves bowling.”
Yorkshire off-spinner Dom Bess, who took five wickets in the match and shared an 83-run eighth-wicket partnership with Kuldeep in the first innings, highlighted his impact on the squad. “The thing I love about KD is the love of craft. He comes here to play and absolutely loves it. We talk a lot of spin, and we have a great relationship.”
–IANS
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