Kuldeep returned with the figures of 4 for 33 on Day 2 of the opening Test at Chattogram.
With his variations, the wrist-spinner ran through the Bangladesh middle-order and returned with the figures of 4 for 33 in his 10 overs. Mushfiqur Rahim (28), Shakib Al Hasan (3), Nurul Hasan (16) and Taijul Islam were his victims.
For veteran wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep’s dismissal of Shakib was a key moment as it gave the left-arm spinner confidence. Kuldeep got rid of the Bangladesh captain with just his second ball of the match.
“The key moment for me was the second ball he bowled to Shakib Al Hasan, somebody who is a very good player of spin. He knows how to tackle a spinner. Stepped out but the ball just dipped a little bit in front and got enough turn for him to play the wrong shot. That was really good bowling. That ball would have given Kuldeep a lot of confidence and that was the starting of his spell,” said Karthik on Cricbuzz.
“From there on you could see Kuldeep in full flow. He troubles batters. You can see from the batters who came after that, they really struggled to play him. That was really heartening. It will keep India in good stead even when they travel abroad but more so for the forthcoming series against Australia. He will become a good weapon to have,” he added.
Earlier, the Indian lower-order did a brilliant job with the bat. The likes of R Ashwin (58), Kuldeep (40) and Umesh Yadav (15 not out) made handy contributions to take the visitors to 404 in the first innings.
Praising Kuldeep for his knock, Karthik said: “When he was younger, he was someone who used to bat in the top order for Uttar Pradesh. He fancies himself as a batter. What he lacks is power which is why in white-ball cricket he is not as effective. But when it comes to red-ball cricket, he gets behind the line of the ball and has a good technique. Being a spinner you are generally aware of how to play spin well and you could see that. His use of sweep and reverse-sweep was very good. He was proactive and that actually put the bowlers off. So it was a very good session of batting from India where the lower order contributed in a positive way. We needed that, there is a massive difference between being all out for 290 and reaching 404."