Picture by Alex Davidson/Getty Images. Kuldeep Yadav lifts the T20 World Cup trophy back in March.
In Kuldeep Yadav, Yorkshire have signed a spin bowler who is closing in on 400 international wickets.
A particularly potent weapon with the white ball, Kuldeep is a left-arm wrist spinner who hasn’t been a regular for his country of late, highlighted by the fact he was part of India’s ODI squad for the recent series against England but didn’t play.
Keen to get some cricket under his belt – he has only played twice since the end of the IPL in late May, the 31-year-old has joined Yorkshire to play five matches in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup and three of the last four Rothesay County Championship matches.
Make no mistake, Kuldeep adds some stardust to the Metro Bank One-Day Cup and not just Yorkshire’s squad.
A T20 World Cup winner in 2024 and 2026, he also won the 50 Champions Trophy in 2025. In all, he has been capped 193 times across the three formats by India.
He has an ODI best of 6-25 to his name, against England at Trent Bridge in 2018. That haul included the wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and David Willey, all Yorkshire players at the time.
He has taken nine hauls of five wickets or more for India, for whom he debuted in all formats in 2017. He made his senior debuts across first-class, List A and T20 cricket in 2014.
Picture by Biju Boro/Getty Images. Kuldeep Yadav will play in three of the last four Championship matches but not the last one of the summer at Trent Bridge.
Kuldeep plays for home state Uttar Pradesh and for Delhi Capitals in the IPL. He has taken 220 List A wickets and is closing in on 200 in first-class cricket.
He is only 12 away, so will achieve that milestone in a Yorkshire shirt if things go well.
He has a Test Match best of 5-40 to his name and 6-79 in first-class cricket.
His 112 wickets in the IPL make him the most successful left-arm wrist spinner in that competition.
Kuldeep has one first-class century to his name and, over the next few weeks in the One-Day Cup, will provide Dom Bess with a potent weapon through the middle overs of an innings.
At the Under 19s World Cup in 2014, he played against an England side including then Yorkshire players Jonny Tattersall, Will Rhodes and Matthew Fisher. He claimed three wickets in a quarter-final defeat in Dubai.
Away from cricket, Kuldeep is a big Barcelona football fan and even runs his own YouTube channel focused on football.
Picture by Alex Davidson/Getty Images. Kuldeep Yadav is set to debut at Neath on Friday.
“Cricket is my game, football is my passion,” he says.
So, not only does he promise to be a popular addition to Yorkshire’s squad with ball in hand, he will add something to those morning warm-ups with the ball at his feet as well.
