For the best wrist-spinners, creating an illusion of spin when there is precious little is an essential part of their beguiling craft. They manage to do so by combining the nuances of drift, flight, dip with subtle changes in the point of release, luring batters into their trap hook, line and sinker. At his pomp, Shane Warne, who could spin the ball on most surfaces, was a master of deception.

In recent times, Kuldeep Yadav has belonged to this top breed. It is a different matter that the 30-year-old from Kanpur, for reasons often unfathomable to the observer, hasn’t consistently found game time at the highest level. Whenever he is in India’s blue shade or creamy whites, however, wickets are invariably snared through the wizardry of his left wrist.

The latest example came against Pakistan, which could only muster a meagre 127 for nine in its Asia Cup contest against India at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. While the sluggish surface may not have encouraged flamboyant stroke-making, the degree of turn was far from alarming.

Yet, the Pakistani batters fumbled by retreating into a shell and allowed Kuldeep to wreak havoc. Although the Indian spinner was encountering the arch-rival for the first time in T20Is, he has 15 wickets in seven ODIs in this face-off.

For the second straight game in the Asia Cup, Kuldeep was India’s most successful bowler. Having scalped four wickets in a nine-wicket rout of the United Arab Emirates last Wednesday, he made Pakistan’s batters look just as inept with three wickets in another frugal four-over spell.

If Hasan Nawaz miscued a sweep to Axar Patel running diagonally from slip, Mohammad Nawaz’s failure to read a googly resulted in a leg-before dismissal. For Sahibzada Farhan, Kuldeep altered his line wider of off-stump and had the opener caught at long-on.

For Kuldeep to hit his straps straightaway in the continental event is a testament to his skill and maturity. He had been consigned to carrying drinks all through India’s recent five-Test series against England. In the shortest format, too, the fixture against the UAE was his first for India since the T20 World Cup final against South Africa in June, 2024.

“I know Kuldeep was with the Test team. He couldn’t get an opportunity to play,” skipper Suryakumar Yadav said in the post-match presser. “But he was working really hard on his fitness, on his bowling, and you can see it. Two games in a row, he has won it for us.”