Star spinner Kuldeep Yadav played a pivotal role in Yorkshire’s seven-wicket win over Durham in the ongoing One-Day Cup. He registered two wickets for only 23 runs in his 10 overs as the Uttar Pradesh-born dominated the middle phase of the innings and didn’t allow Durham the space to build meaningful partnerships. His disciplined spell played a significant role in restricting the hosts to 165 runs, with the innings ending in the 49th over.
Kuldeep delivered the key breakthrough by dismissing former England captain Ben Stokes, who laboured for 12 runs from 38 deliveries before offering a catch to George Hill. The India spinner struck again by removing Colin Ackermann for 26, further denting Durham's hopes of posting a competitive total.
Meanwhile, Yorkshire completed the chase with seven wickets in hand despite losing both openers early. James Wharton and Sam Whitaman registered an unbeaten half-century each to ensure a comfortable win.
The outing marked an encouraging return to form for Kuldeep after a difficult international series against England last month. The spinner did not feature in any of the three ODIs during that tour and subsequently slipped out of the top 10 in the ICC rankings for ODI bowlers.
Will Stokes return to international cricket?
Away from the One-Day Cup, discussion around Stokes' international future continues despite his retirement from Test cricket in late June. England director of cricket Rob Key said he believes the former captain could still make a comeback for next year's Ashes series at home.
"It would be a brilliant story if he does. He hasn't [indicated a change of heart], but I wouldn't be surprised. Anything is possible with Ben,” Key said.
Key also said he would welcome such a decision and had no concerns about the manner in which Stokes announced his retirement. “No, not at all. Not as far as I'm concerned.”
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald also suggested a return for the Ashes would create a compelling storyline while acknowledging that only Stokes knows whether he intends to resume his Test career.
“I think the fairytale would be that he comes back out of retirement and takes on one more Ashes and builds a lot of hype on the way in. If you're looking at promoting that series, that's probably the angle that you would want, that he comes out of retirement. To me, he's still got a lot of good cricket left in him. It'll be a fascinating watch. I think that whoever the new head coach that comes in potentially has a conversation with him,” McDonald said.
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