Kuldeep Yadav (born 14 December 1994) is an Indian international cricketer. A left-arm unorthodox spinner, he plays for Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket and Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League. He was a member of the Indian team that won the 2024 and 2026 T20 World Cups and the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Yadav has played for the Indian Under-19 cricket team and played in the 2014 U19 Cricket World Cup. On 18 December 2019, against the West Indies, he became the first bowler for India to take two hat-tricks in international cricket. On 17 January 2020, in the second ODI against Australia, Yadav became the fastest spin bowler for India, in terms of innings, to take 100 wickets in ODI cricket, in his 58th innings. He helped his national team to win the 2018 Asia Cup as he took the most wickets during the tournament at 10 along with Rashid Khan and Mustafizur Rahman, and being the highest wicket taker for India. He made his international test debut against Australia in Dharamshala on 25 March 2017.
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Early and domestic career
Yadav was born in Unnao but raised in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, the son of a brick kiln owner. In an interview, he revealed that it was his father who wanted him to continue playing cricket and even took him to a coach. Inspired by bowling greats Wasim Akram and Zaheer Khan, he wanted to become a left-arm seamer. However, given his slight build, his coach insisted on him becoming a wrist-spin bowler as he was impressed with the turn and variations he was providing unknowingly at the trials. Since then, he started following and watching videos of Shane Warne's bowling and made him his role model.
"I keep watching videos of Warne. His grip of the ball, length of deliveries and use of the crease are unbeatable. I try to learn from the footage"
Yadav also revealed that earlier in his life, there was a dark phase in his life when he thought of giving up cricket and committing suicide, when he was not selected in the Uttar Pradesh’s under-15 team.
Yadav was a member of the Mumbai Indians squad in 2012 and signed up by the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014, whom he represented at the 2014 Champions League Twenty20.
In January 2018, Yadav was bought back by KKR in the 2018 IPL auction. Four years later, he was bought by Delhi Capitals in the auction for the 2022 season. Yadav won the player-of-the-match award four times, most by any player that season.
England
In July 2026, Yadav signed a short-term contract with Yorkshire County Cricket Club to play in the [[2026 One-Day Cup
|One-Day Cup]] and three rounds of the 2026 County Championship.
International career
Yadav was selected in the Indian cricket team to play against West Indies in October 2014 but did not appear in any match. In February 2017, he was added to India's Test squad for their one-off match against Bangladesh. He made his Test debut for India against Australia on 25 March 2017, at the Dharamshala Cricket Stadium, taking four wickets in the first innings. Yadav is the first left-arm wrist spin bowler to represent India national cricket team in Test cricket. He is also only the third such bowler in Test cricket to take four wickets on debut.
In June 2017, Yadav was named in India's squad for a limited overs tour to the West Indies. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut for India against the West Indies on 23 June 2017. However, during this game, he was unable to bowl a single delivery as the game ended with no result due to rain during the first innings while India was batting. He was ultimately able to bowl in the next match of the series, where he took three wickets. He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for India against the West Indies on 9 July 2017.
On 21 September 2017, Yadav became the third bowler for India to take a hat-trick in an ODI after Chetan Sharma and Kapil Dev. He took the hat-trick at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, against Australia.
On 3 July 2018, Yadav took his first five-for in a T20I and also became the first left-arm wrist-spin bowler to take five wickets in a T20I during the first T20I against England, in fact he also became only the third Indian after Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to take a five-wicket haul in a T20I.
On 12 July 2018, during the first ODI against England, Yadav grabbed his maiden five-wicket haul in an ODI and also set a new record for registering the best bowling figures by a left-arm spin bowler of any kind in an ODI (6/25). He also shattered the record of Shahid Afridi for registering the best bowling figures by a spinner against England in ODIs and also broke Afridi's record for recording the best ever bowling figures by a spinner in an ODI in England.
On 6 October 2018, in the first test against West Indies, Yadav took his first five-wicket haul in Tests.
Personal life
On 4 June 2025, Kuldeep announced his engagement to childhood friend Vanshika. He tied knot married to Vanshika Chadha on 14 March 2026 in Mussoorie.
Outside of cricket, Kuldeep has a keen interest in football, and is a fan of La Liga club FC Barcelona. He has also mentioned being interested in starting football academies in India in the future. Kuldeep started a YouTube channel in August 2025, where he posts content centred around football. As of September 2025, the channel has amassed 22,000 subscribers.