Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has tipped Kuldeep Yadav as the best spinner in the world at the moment. Yadav has been bowling at his absolute in the last couple of years and has done a magnificent job in ODIs for the Indian team.

Yadav returned with figures of 5-25 in the Super Fours stage match against Pakistan. Subsequently, he bagged 4-43 against Sri Lanka to help the team clinch a thrilling match by 41 runs. With it, Kuldeep also completed the landmark of 150 wickets and took only 85 innings to get to the milestone.

In the 15 ODIs of 2023, Yadav has picked up 31 wickets at an average of 15.48. In fact, Kuldeep could only take eight wickets in nine matches in 2020 and 2021 and thus got limited chances in the playing XI.

In 2022, Kuldeep snared 12 wickets in eight matches at an average of 27.75 to get back to form.

“I feel Kuldeep is the best spinner in the world at the moment. If you see Kuldeep Yadav’s numbers, you say he is a proper wicket-taker. We are talking about spinners who have taken 150 ODI wickets. Firstly, 150 wickets is a very good number, it is not a small sample size,” Aakash said on his official YouTube channel.

“He has taken only 85 innings to pick up 150 wickets. He has a strike rate of 30.1. He is special because he is orthodox. If you talk about Ajantha Mendis and Rashid Khan, they had or have mystery. This guy has no mystery. He bowls normal leg-spin and googly and traps you with that itself.”

There is no doubt that Kuldeep has been bowling at his best and he will hold the key for the Indian team in the upcoming World Cup. The left-arm wrist spinner will aim to make the most of the known conditions on offer.

India will take on Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Sunday.