Kuldeep Yadav: Debunking Kohli's 'Horses for Courses' Theory

This phrase (read strategy or theory for the Indian cricket team) has been so much in use for the Indian cricket team over the past couple of years that it has become a cliche now.

Ever since Virat Kohli became the captain of the Indian cricket team, he has employed this strategy almost every time he has stepped into the field. He has always emphasized the need for picking the right combinations in order to be successful in challenging conditions.

“This is something that we made pretty clear when we lost the game in Galle [against Sri Lanka in 2015]. After that we had a pretty clear chat that we are going to play people that we think are suitable for different venues,” Kohli had said back in 2016 backing his strategy.

Although his theory still doesn't go down well with the majority of the cricket fraternity, he has got the results to speak in his favour. India are the No.1 ranked Test side in the World at present. They are not far behind in ODIs and T20Is as well being ranked No. 2 in both the formats.

"Every player needs to buy into the idea and it makes it easier as captain and the management if players agree to it - and they have. They have been pretty good with it and that's why if you see someone stepping in for a game or two, they take it as an opportunity and have actually given match-winning performances,” he had added back in 2016.

However, besides all the success, he has had lucky escapes as well while employing this theory of his. Recently, he had dropped Kuldeep Yadav for the third T20I against England citing the conditions and small ground dimensions as the reasons behind his omission. His famed ‘Horses for Courses’ theory. If it wasn't for England's own mistakes, India might have ended up losing the series decider at Bristol.

Kuldeep Yadav had rather an ordinary outing in the previous T20I at Cardiff returning with figures of 0/34 in his four overs. India had lost that match. However, he was the one who had derailed the English batting line up in the first T20I at Manchester with his four wicket haul after a the hosts were off to a superb start.

So, his omission from the third T20I didn't send out a good message at all. A good player will do well irrespective of the conditions and this is where this strategy goes wrong for a player of Yadav’s calibre.

The young chinaman spinner has done well in the little time he has played so far and has hardly put a step wrong. It's true that there are players who are more suited to playing in certain conditions than others. However, there are some excellent players as well who can use any condition to their advantage. Kuldeep Yadav is one of them.

He showed that in the first ODI against England at Trent Bridge on Thursday. The ground is touted to be a batting paradise and hell for bowlers. Pitch conditions were similar on Thursday and everyone was expecting England to score big if they survived one man’s spell. That was none other than Kuldeep Yadav who was back into the line up following the criticism the team management received after dropping him in the third T20I.

What followed next was one of the finest spells or probably the best we have seen from an Indian spinner in England.

England, like the first T20I, were once again off to a good start in the first match of the ODI series as well. But it was Yadav again who did the damage. He struck one after another sending Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root back to the pavilion in quick succession. It was deja vu all again. Yadav was running through the hosts famed top order once again.

It was a batting paradise. A flat track. A hell for the bowlers. Yet Yadav was spinning his own magic on it. He was making the batsmen dance to his tunes. That was probably what champions do and he was showing that he is one.

He didn't stop at that and picked up the wickets of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and David Willey next and thus ended up with magical bowling figures of 6/25 in his quota of 10 overs.

So much for a batting paradise! A bowler was teasing the batsmen, tormenting them and making fun of them on a track where they were supposed to bludgeon him to all parts of the ground.

Kuldeep Yadav brought to fore England's weakness against spin once again. But more importantly, he debunked Kohli’s ‘horses for courses’ theory. Previously, it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who showed the same after being dropped in the first Test in South Africa and then producing spell binding performances in the next two matches.

This time, Yadav showed once again why Kohli should not employ that frequently and why players like him should be there playing every competitive match,no matter how challenging the conditions are.