Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav: The ‘KulCha’ with a flavour of success

Yadav said Chahal was like a “big brother” to him, who had stood by him in tough times and hoped that the Rajasthan Royals leggie goes on to win the Purple Cap.

When the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 began, few had doubts that the spinners would come to the forefront, more so the wrist-spinners, as the tournament progressed. While the performances of the fast bowlers, especially the young Indian brigade, has been impressive, it is not surprising to see two exponents of the art of wrist-spin holding the top two positions in the Purple Cap list – Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. This combo – KulCha to many – has found the measure of the tracks at the three stadia where IPL 2022 is being played and their returns are something that would make their franchises very happy indeed.

Chahal’s success of not much of a surprise, given that he has grown into the top spinner for India in this department, to complement Ravichandran Ashwin in the finger-spinners’ list.

What has come as a pleasant surprise is the revival of Kuldeep Yadav. The left-arm chinaman bowler had been living a nightmare in the recent past, more so the last couple of years, so his return was something of a bonus.

As things stand, Chahal leads the pack with 18 wickets from eight matches, with a best of 5/40 and an economy of 7.09.

Yadav has suddenly come to life in the last couple of weeks and suddenly, we find him at No. 2 with 17 wickets from eight games. His economy has not been the best at 8.08 but his strike rate, at 10.47, is marginally better than Chahal’s (10.66).

Yadav is showing his teeth again, as a bowler and when he smiles.

This smile had vanished in the past. Yadav’s experience with his former franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, was nothing short of a disaster which eroded his confidence to a level where his India form and participation also became marginal.

Irrespective of how many times our selectors speak to the contrary, form in the IPL very often is the only yardstick left to choose for India colours. With that in mind, Yadav should be hopeful again, at least as a back-up to Chahal if nothing else.

It seems the pair have a lot of admiration for one another. Yadav, after his match-winning performance against former franchise KKR, was all praise for Chahal.

Yadav said Chahal was like a “big brother” to him, who had stood by him in tough times and hoped that the Rajasthan Royals leggie goes on to win the Purple Cap.

Yadav also said he had learned a lot from his past mistakes and once he did that, it made him mentally stronger and he wasn’t afraid of failure any more.

Strong words from the bowler who was once potentially the best thing that had happened to India spin bowling.

As he regains his confidence, and with Chahal showing class, this KulCha would be something many rivals will again find unpalatable, very soon.