Kuldeep Yadav proves himself as a big-match player again with 4-30 in Asia Cup 2025 Final

Kuldeep Yadav delivers once again in a big match, taking 4-30 in Asia Cup 2025 Final, finishing the tournament with 17 wickets.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. This expression holds true for India during the 2025 Asia Cup final when they defeated Pakistan in a high-pressure game after playing catch-up in both the innings. And among the players, Kuldeep Yadav best reflects this during the game. 

Till the final, he was having a great tournament, taking 13 wickets in 6 games. But two overs in his first spell in the final, he was hit for two sixes and conceded 23 runs. But once India made a breakthrough, breaking the opening stand of 84 runs, Kuldeep came to the party, taking four wickets for just 7 runs in his next two overs. He ended up with 4 for 30 runs. 

Kuldeep took three wickets in his fourth over, without conceding a single run with the bat, with a wide stopping it from a maiden and a three-wicket haul. Kuldeep ended the tournament with 17 wickets in 7 games at an average of 9.29 and an economy rate of 6.27. The next best bowler was Shaheen Shah Afridi with 10 wickets.

Read More: Tilak Varma’s 69* in chasing cause in Asia Cup 2025 Final proves his utility as a finisher

What was the turnaround for Kuldeep?

Kuldeep’s competitiveness, never-say-die attitude, and learning from his mistakes
Although Kuldeep was taken for runs in his first two overs in the final, he didn’t give up, and came back with attacking line-and-length bowling to entice Pakistan batters to go after him, and throw away their wickets with ugly slogs and sweeps. Kuldeep deserves the credit for not going defensive after he was taken to task by Pakistan openers. He bowled slightly fuller to the openers and was punished. Kuldeep made amends and bowled perfect lengths to draw batters out and commit mistakes. He also intelligently changed his pace as batters struggled for timing. 

His dismissal of Afridi was a classic example of setting the batter up. He bowled two classic leg-spinners to the left-handed Afridi, and bowled a googly on the third that rapped up the pads. The LBW decision was held on review.

Consistency, variations, and clever change of pace
Throughout the tournament, Kuldeep Yadav was consistent with not only picking at least a wicket in each match but also with his line and length, making it extremely difficult for batters to bat him out of the attack. The UAE batters were all at sea against the quality spin bowling of Kuldeep as the bowler took 4 for 7. In the next match against Pakistan, he took 3/18 to bag his second straight man of the match award. 

What stood out for Kuldeep was his disciplined bowling, where he attacked the stumps with his accurate line-and-length bowling; His googly was difficult to read both off the pitch and hand, and the clever change of pace made batters struggle to force the pace against Kuldeep. 

Read More: Asia Cup 2025 Final, IND vs PAK: Tilak Varma’s calm 69* helps India get ninth title

Kuldeep rises to first-choice spinner after Asia Cup
Had it not been the UAE hosting the Asia Cup, where the track favours spin, Kuldeep may have been warming the benches during the tournament. India’s first-choice spinners are Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy. Axar provides the batting stability along with his accurate left-arm slow orthodox bowling, while Varun is a mystery spinner who has had great success in T20Is recently. Hence, Kuldeep could have been easily ignored if the tournament was played in any other venue, as three spinners could have been a luxury. But as fate would have it, Kuldeep outshone all bowlers and emerged as the highest wicket-taker in the Asia Cup. Now, he has easily emerged the first-choice spinner for India in T20Is at least.

The way ahead for Kuldeep
Kuldeep’s performance in the Asia Cup makes him a sure starter in the XI in T20Is, even if Axar and Varun are available. India’s quality spin trio could be a challenge even on flat decks or pace-friendly wickets. Hence, it would be too hard to ignore Kuldeep in T20Is, although the bowler still might get sidelined over Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, or Axar Patel in other formats. But what this performance means is that Kuldeep has given a statement that he is too good a bowler to be sitting in the dressing room in the shortest format. This performance could also propel India to give him the starting XI line-up at home conditions in other formats as well. 

Read More: India stand vindicated; There’s no written rule that forces teams to end game with handshake