Kuldeep Yadav becomes fastest Indian spinner to reach 150 wickets in ODI cricket

Kuldeep Yadav picked up four wickets against Sri Lanka in Asia Cup 2023 Super Four clash.

The story of India’s left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav’s success has been an impressive one. Kuldeep, in his last two games at Asia Cup, picked up nine wickets to win the game for Indian cricket team. With this magnificent show of his spin bowling, Kuldeep has broken several other records as well. He became the fastest Indian to reach 150 wickets mark. He also has become the fastest left-arm spin bowler to complete 150 one-day international wickets. He has also become the seventh-quickest overall to complete the 150 ODI wickets milestone. India defeated Sri Lanka by 41 runs in the super 4 round and booked their place in Asia Cup 2023 finals on September 17.

Kuldeep Yadav took four wickets against Sri Lanka and finished the game with two wickets in three balls in his last over. Kuldeep overtook Bangladesh left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak by 20 one-day internationals. Razzak completed his 150 ODI wickets in 108 games, while Kuldeep touched the mark in just 88 games. As a spinner, Saqlain Mushtaq holds the record of being the quickest to pick up 150 ODI wickets, he completed the milestone in just 78 ODIs. Rashid Khan (80) and Ajantha Mendis (84) are the other two spinners quicker than Kuldeep Yadav. But Kuldeep has become the fast Indian spinner to reach this feat.

Quickest bowlers to 150 ODI wickets

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc is the fastest to reach the 150-wickets milestone in one-day internationals. Starc played only 77 games as a fast bowler to hold this special record. Mohammed Shami is the quickest Indian bowler to claim 150 wickets. Shami took just 80 games to complete 150 wickets with his brute pace. Kuldeep Yadav will be taking up the responsibility of Indian spin bowling attack along with two all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Ravindra Jadeja also had a decent game against Sri Lanka, while Axar failed to get a wicket.

Team India posted just 213 runs on the board after winning the toss. Captain Rohit Sharma (53) and Shubman Gill (19) added 80 runs for the opening wicket, but soon after, Sri Lankan team made a comeback as their left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage (5 wickets) and part-timer Charith Asalanka (4 wickets) rattled Indian batting order. Similarly, Kuldeep Yadav also got the turn and bounce off the wicket to make Sri Lankan team struggle against his skills. India won the game by 41 runs and qualified for Asia Cup 2023 finals in Colombo.