England are desperate to decipher India’s Kuldeep Yadav in second ODI

With his mop of curly dark hair and pointed features, India’s Kuldeep Yadav bares a passing resemblance to Harry Houdini. But rather than an escapologist, this 23-year-old from Kanpur instead proved the straitjacket for England’s batsmen in Nottingham on Thursday, claiming six wickets and shipping no boundaries.

The question now is whether England can find a way to wriggle out of the left‑arm wrist-spinner’s constrictive hold in the second one-day international with India at Lord’s on Saturday – when the tourists could claim the three-match series and take the place of Eoin Morgan’s side as world No 1 – given a 48‑hour turnaround without net practice in between.

Graham Thorpe, England’s batting coach, admitted after the eight-wicket defeat that the challenge Kuldeep presents is a hot topic of conversation in the dressing room. Bowlers of his ilk are so scarce around the world and theories are flying around regarding foot movement and release shots.

Thorpe highlighted the response to the wrist-spinner’s five-wicket haul at Old Trafford in the opening Twenty20 with a sounder showing in the follow‑up win in Cardiff as cause for optimism, even if the match-winner that day, Alex Hales, is now injured. But then after the six for 25 at Trent Bridge, clearly no one can claim to speak fluent Kuldeep just yet.

“We didn’t over-panic after Manchester. Similarly here, it’s about looking at it logically in terms of the ability of the guys to genuinely pick him and then work out a method of playing him as well,” Thorpe said. “From what I’m hearing from my chats with them, it’s not like they can’t pick him, so for me, that’s important because there are options.”

Whether this claim is accurate feels debatable, not least since Joe Root missed a ball turning into him by some six inches, while Jonny Bairstow played across the wrong ’un to be similarly trapped lbw. Neither Yorkshireman used Merlyn after Kuldeep had them both stumped for golden ducks in Manchester, but then, as the bowler himself noted, “the machine doesn’t have hands or fingers” before adding, “If the ball is turning and especially here in England, they are not able to comprehend it.”

So this particular puzzle will need solving in the middle, with Thorpe saying: “The more you face the trajectory, the flight, the speed of the ball, they’re the things you pick up on. You’ve also got to set up against it; your method, your footwork, your position on the crease. You have to react quite quickly, especially in one-day cricket. He shut us down and you have to give him credit. It’s up to us to keep an open mind, accept it’s happened. But we’ve got to turn it around pretty quick.”

While Thorpe hopes another of Kuldeep’s victims, Ben Stokes, will be better for the grinding 50 he made upon his return, the former middle‑order stalwart – a fine technician against spin in his day – admitted Root needs a score to trigger some form amid a summer in which he has averaged 22 from seven ODI innings. It is doubtless why the Test captain is reportedly eyeing a winter spell at Sydney Thunder in Australia’s Big Bash between England tours, to up his volume of white-ball cricket.

To burst the dam before this at Lord’s, exactly a year from when it hosts the 2019 World Cup final, would be handy, as would a confidence-boosting win for the one-day team as a whole given NW8 has not been the most popular postcode for England in recent times.

Indeed over the past 10 years it represents their worst home venue by way of win/loss ratio, with five victories and one tie (against India in 2011, via Duckworth-Lewis) to nine defeats. The most recent came to South Africa in May last year when, on an early-season green top, they were sliced apart by Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell, losing six top-order wickets for 20 runs in the first five overs of the match.

Morgan bemoaned the grassy pitch that day but this time around may fear a turner – something that, after weeks without rain and a 28C temperaturesforecast, could well come to pass. If so, then all eyes will be on their approach to Kuldeep given the personnel should be unchanged, while not forgetting that Yuzvendra Chahal, the orthodox leg‑spinner in India’s ranks who outfoxed Morgan on Trent-side, is quite good too.

England (probable) JJ Roy, JM Bairstow, JE Root, EJG Morgan (capt), BA Stokes, JC Buttler (wkt), MM Ali, DJ Willey, AU Rashid, LE Plunkett, MA Wood.

India (probable) RG Sharma, S Dhawan, V Kohli (capt), KL Rahul, SK Raina, MS Dhoni (wkt), HH Pandya, S Kaul, K Yadav, UT Yadav, YS Chahal.

England have named the former batsman James Taylor, who was forced to retire in 2016 because of a heart condition, as their full‑time independent selector.

The 28-year-old will work with the national selector Ed Smith, who was appointed in April following a restructuring. Taylor joins Smith and the England head coach, Trevor Bayliss, on the selection panel.

“I’m thrilled to be taking up this role,” Taylor said. “I will bring all of my energy and experience – from the Lions, domestic cricket and the international Test and white-ball game – to this task.”

Press Association