New Delhi: Who will score the most wickets for India in 2023? Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, or Mohammed Shami? Wow, what a surprise! Kuldeep Yadav is the one with 22 wickets. Yes, the same Kuldeep who was recently lost in the wilderness is making an effort to rejoin the Indian team. During the Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni era, Kuldeep and Chahal were a crucial part of India's playing XI.

As batters started to mercilessly target him in white-ball cricket, Kuldeep fell down the pecking order. Whether it was the combined attack on him by Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow at the T20 World Cup or seeing a broken Kuldeep down on his knees and nearly in tears after being pummeled by Andre Russell in the IPL. 

The fact that Kuldeep had to wait more than two years to play his next Test after picking up a five-wicket haul against Australia in Sydney may best describe his unfortunate circumstances. Kuldeep's chances diminished as opponents were spun out by Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel.

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Sunil Joshi, a former India selector, claims that he was absent from the Indian team for almost an eternity with no assistance. In a conversation with The Indian Express, the former India left-arm spinner admitted that when help did not come for a down-and-out Kuldeep, he took it upon himself to turn around the spinner's dismal circumstances.

"I was part of the selection committee when Kuldeep Yadav got dropped. Who came to the rescue? None of the coaching staff, I was the one who got his delivery stride shorter, front arm better, arm speed better, got him to rip more revolutions on the ball," Joshi told.

Kuldeep's career hit its lowest point in IPL 2021 when he did not play for Kolkata Knight Riders in a single game. Despite being selected for the Indian team, he hardly played any games. And even then, Kuldeep had trouble making it to back-to-back playing XIs. When all seemed lost, assistance was provided by Joshi, who, as evidenced by Kuldeep's most recent statistics, performed bloody well.

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The new and improved Kuldeep was so impressive that even Ravi Shastri, the former India coach, could not help but be in awe of this remarkable turnaround. With Joshi's hand on his shoulders and a revitalized support system from Delhi Capitals behind him, including coach Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson, Kuldeep was able to turn things around.

"Suddenly, everybody is talking about Kuldeep Yadav. Ravi Shastri asked Sunil, what have you done with Kuldeep? I said, 'Ravi bhai I have not done anything special. These are the simple things that a bowling coach should be doing'. If you look at Kuldeep 2.0, his front arm is nice toward the target, his bowling arm is towards the target, he is running towards the target. Shorter stride, there is a free follow through, he has got quicker through the air. You look at the way he is bowling now," added Joshi.

Kuldeep's performances in 2023 have been nothing short of sensational and include some extremely disciplined numbers like 3/53 vs Sri Lanka, 3/62 vs New Zealand, 3/56 vs Australia, 4/46 vs West Indies, and more.

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