Kuldeep Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the UP-wardly mobile men

Kuldeep Yadav took a hat-trick while Bhuvneshwar Kumar took three wickets in Kolkata. (BCCI Photo)

On a muggy, damp Thursday night, the Uttar Pradesh boys shone bright. Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave a masterclass on swing bowling, dismissing Hilton Cartwright and David Warner. Kuldeep Yadav lit up Eden Gardens with a hat-trick. Two different types of bowlers, connected by not only a piece of geography but also similar thought process in terms of setting up the opposition batsmen and dislodging them.

After the second ODI against Australia, Kumar and Yadav ‘squared up’ with microphones for bcci.tv and dissected each other’s bowling. The chinaman bowler’s hat-trick was the theme, but without Kumar’s opening spell, India might have struggled to defend a modest 252.

The YouTube video of Kumar’s 6/82 in the first innings at Lord’s three years ago has nearly one million views. Alastair Cook was his first scalp, hanging his bat to an away-goer and nicking to MS Dhoni, who took the catch diving to his left. Kumar bowled it from close to the stumps.

The Warner dismissal at the Eden Gardens was a near replica. Kumar had set up the Australia opener with an angling delivery to start with. The nip and a close shave had made Warner unsure. The ball that got the left-hander was fuller, nipped a little more off the deck, resulting in a thick edge to Ajinkya Rahane at second slip. The fast bowler’s manoeuvring of Cartwright was about choking the greenhorn with dot balls and then tempting him to play an expansive drive. A good-length ball bowled from wide of the crease had enough angle to sneak through the gate and rattle the stumps.

Yadav asked his senior colleague about plotting wickets. “Swing was on offer and when the ball is moving, I plan about bowling outswingers or inswingers depending on the batsman,” Kumar replied. Warner was probably the easier bit, because of their familiarity, as both play for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

“I knew outswingers can work against him – pitching it on the off stump and getting the outswinger right. I know a bit about where he lacks and where I should bowl at him. But execution on the ground is more important. The IPL is such a tournament that you end up knowing about the strengths and weaknesses of everyone because you are playing with so many people in the same side,” the fast bowler said at the post-match press conference.

A chequered injury history has prevented smooth progress for Kumar. After the highs of England in 2014, when he took 19 wickets in five Tests, the medium pacer injured his ankle before the first Test in Australia a few months later. He played just one Test and conceded plenty. He also played only one match in the 2015 World Cup. Last year, after a five-for in a Test against New Zealand at Eden, Kumar had to sit out in the next match at Indore because of a back strain.

During Dhoni’s reign, he preferred Kumar to the quicks (read Umesh Yadav) in white-ball cricket because of his control. But the larger consensus pointed out at Kumar’s lack of pace and his overdependence on favourable conditions. But Kumar has evolved, and is keeping even Mohammed Shami and Umesh out of ODIs. He reflected on his growth: “When I came in first, I needed swinging conditions to flourish. A year after making my debut, I wanted to increase my pace, but I had no clue how to go about that. Our trainer Mr (Shankar) Basu introduced me to a different type of training that eventually helped me increase my pace. That, in turn, went on to help me bowl at the death too.”

It wa something that bowling coach Bharat Arun had higlighted during an interview with The Indian Express, when he was not the bowling coach. “Not everyone is genetically strong like Umesh, a reason why he is by and large injury-free. But certain training methods can make a fast bowler stronger,” Arun had said. Kumar obviously has put in the hard yards.

The hat-trick plan

As their conversation wore on, Kumar asked Kuldeep about the feeling of taking a hat-trick. “I never thought I would take a hat-trick, especially for the fact that I didn’t have a good start.”

The spinner told his team-mate that he was planning for his first wicket after being brought back from the High Court end. His sharp mind realised a googly first up would surprise Pat Cummins. It did. The next two were leg-breaks, which bamboozled Matthew Wade and Ashton Agar, both left handers. “It wasn’t turning much into the batsman. A slip was in place and I decided to bowl a wrong’un. Luckily it went in our favour.”

Getting his friend’s number

David Warner has fallen to Bhuvneshwar Kumar more times than he would like to admit. (Source: AP)

Despite their bonding and familiarity bred by IPL association, David Warner still can’t claim that he has fully comprehended the mechanics of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Here are a few recent instances.

Dharamsala, fourth Test (2017)

With better luck, Bhuvneshwar should have consumed Warner both times in the Test. Incidentally, in both innings, he was grassed by Karun Nair at third slip. The first wasn’t exactly a fiendish delivery-at rank short ball which Warner would have smeared through midwicket if he had been in better form-but he decided to fend it off the back foot and got a thick edge to Karun at third slip. Soon after, though, Bhuvneshwar hit his straps and probed him with a stifling line in the corridor, slanting the ball across him and making the odd ball hold its line. One such delivery took his edge in the second innings, but for Karun buttery fingers to err again.

Chennai, first ODI (2017)

Warner endured a scary first over, as Bhuvneshwar strangled the former’s endeavour to tee off from the first ball, chasing a truncated target. Bhuvneshwar’s strategy was simple-he would angle a few across him and make the odd one hold its line or shape back a little. The slight new-ball nip forced Warner to play really late, and he somehow managed to protect his wicket, wriggling out just a single. Surprisingly, he couldn’t configure his knuckle ball, a trick he uses commonly these days in the IPL. In the next over, Bhuvneshwar saw an uppish cut just eluding the fieldsman.

Kolkata, second ODI (2017)

A classical right-handed seamer’s dismissal of a left-hander. The latter stabbing tentatively at at the full delivery on the corridor, the ball just nibbling away a little, grazing the outside edge of the bat. With the new ball swinging prodigiously, there wasn’t much of a need to set him up. Bhuvneshwar just kept the ball moving away at a tantalising line and Warner just kept plonking his bat. It was only a matter of time before he edged one to the slips.