In Kuldeep's theatre of spin

Deception is essentially a skill and an art in cricket, and in his short Test career, he has mastered the art and skill of being a deceiver with the cricket ball. Kuldeep Yadav - the illusionist, the artist, and the sorcerer - was in full view on Sunday morning at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The left-arm wrist spinner, now a virtual veteran in white-ball cricket and trying to make a mark in the red-ball format, made a statement on how India may have missed a trick by not deploying him in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England.

Kuldeep's 5 for 82 in the West Indies' first innings put India in a commanding position before the visitors managed to delay the inevitable with a fleeting resistance through an unbeaten third-wicket partnership between John Campbell and Shai Hope. But with 97 runs still in arrears, an Indian win on Day 4 on Monday is an imminent possibility, barring an unlikely miraculous turnaround by the Roston Chase side, who have already created a record of sorts by pushing the Test to the fourth day, first time in six matches in India across three series.

"It was very difficult. In England we got the reading of the wickets pretty spot on. There were very high-scoring Tests. But he has shown here even on an unresponsive wicket... it makes you think what if he had played in Headingley or Manchester. But those are calls you have to make in real time. He has done himself some favours looking forward. If we have to make the brave call where we want to win Tests, we, maybe, go a batter light and play Kuldeep based on how he has bowled in these two Tests," Ryan ten Doeschate, India's assistant coach, admitted that the selection calls could have been better in England.

Over the last two Tests, Kuldeep has shown how valuable he can be to the side and how much variety he can bring on board. It was evident in his two contrasting dismissals of Hope in the ongoing series against the West Indies. The West Indies No. 4 played for legspin in Ahmedabad, only to be bowled by a googly in Ahmedabad. And here in Delhi on Sunday, Hope was expecting a googly, only to realise that it went with the angle after he was deceived by the loop and drift of the delivery. Pure magic from a true magician!

"I think that's where the deception is. I think that's where he has slowly mastered it. And he got better with every series and every opportunity he gets to play for India," Sairaj Bahutule, a former India international and himself a wrist spinner in his playing days explained to Cricbuzz.

"Kuldeep has been a bowler who has really worked hard over the period of time in terms of his fitness as well as his bowling skills. He understands different types of variations which are going to be effective on different pitches. He also makes the right use of his variations at the right pitch. And that is without changing the action."

As they famously say, 'Better decisions cannot be taught; they are self-taught, and developing one's own personal blueprint allows one to make better decisions.' Kuldeep knows his strengths, skills, and variations, and has taught himself how to make an impact instantly, given that he hadn't played for a year before this series - Test being only his 15th in an eight-and-a-half-year international career. The perfect magician that he is on a cricket field, Kuldeep, admittedly, relies on dip and loop of the ball for success. "I tried to beat the batter on air," he said at stumps on Sunday.

Kuldeep achieves the dip and loop through a number of factors, one of which is the use of the body in turning and twirling in a sequence that requires him to separate the top and bottom halves at the right time. It is not an easy skill, but Kuldeep seems to have nailed this aspect, allowing the ball to dip perfectly. The batter assumes the ball is at a particular length, but it lands a fraction shorter, just as Hope witnessed on Sunday morning. There is a lot that needs to be in sync to produce that level of accuracy, and Kuldeep is able to manage that perfectly with his hard work.

Hope's wicket was the second of his five wickets in the first innings and he went on to pick three more - Tevin Imlach, Justin Greaves, and Jayden Seales - in the first two sessions, allowing skipper Shubman Gill to enforce the follow-on. That he could not immediately replicate his success in the West Indies' second innings is not as much of a mystery as his deliveries have been. The pitch had eased considerably, and even veteran Ravindra Jadeja, normally effective in every condition, struggled to find turn and bounce.

At the end of the day, Kuldeep continued to remain in the West Indies' thoughts about what he could do on the fourth day, even as the pitch became easy for batting. The answer was: there is a need for some magic. "You have to create magic on the field, and that's what I always think about," Kuldeep said.

"The wicket is on the slower side here. There is not much pace on it. You have to create the energy, and trying to beat the batter in the air was my plan. I was trying to increase my arm's speed. But there is not much fizz from the wicket," the mystery spinner said, adding, "Taking a five-wicket haul was special. It does not matter whether I play after 18 months or one month."