It was Kuldeep Yadav’s subtle brilliance, not the turn in the pitch that once again sealed Pakistan’s fate on Sunday.

Three wickets for 18 runs in Dubai told the story of a left-arm wrist-spinner who has learned to stalk his prey with patience, precision and subtlety.

The spell reflected how much the 29-year-old has evolved from a bowler who once relied on extravagant turn to one who now thrives on subtle variations.

Pakistan’s batsmen, past and present, remain his favourite quarry.

The current generation, led by Salman Ali Agha, found no spectacular acts of spin. The turn was modest, the dip deceptive, the bounce unsettling.

Sahibzada Farhan was lured into a premature stroke, Mohammad Nawaz was fooled by a googly not in sweepable length, Hasan Nawaz miscued a slog-sweep beaten by bounce. They were trapped not by turns, but by the nuance of flight, pace and length.

Kuldeep varied his pace between 78 and 84 kph without losing the essence of flight and drop, a skill that has added another layer to his bowling.

It was a spell of relentless strangulation. Fifteen of Kuldeep’s 24 deliveries were dots, leaving Pakistan paralysed, unable even to rotate strike.

Farhan could scrape just two runs off six balls. Singles dried up, pressure built, and wickets followed.

Pakistan’s old guard could only shake their heads.

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Shoaib Malik, on PTV Sports, questioned the lack of planning. “He has played 8 matches, taken 18 wickets, the average is 12.67 and economy rate is 3.93. We don’t play them at bilateral, only at ICC tournaments. Nobody has found a solution? Nobody is even bothered about it?”

Umar Gul said: “The ball was not even spinning that much and Pakistan gave wickets to him. There were almost 10 overs of dot balls. You are not rotating the strike, the pressure builds, and you get out.”

Wasim Akram, speaking on Sony Sports, pointed to the root of the problem. “It’s just the way he bowls. They can’t read him. Sunny bhai (Sunil Gavaskar) said unless you can read him from the hand, you won’t be able to understand that type of bowling. When they sweep against Kuldeep every second ball, it means you are not reading him.”

For Pakistan, the torment is not new. Kuldeep’s reputation against Pakistan was built on dismissals of Babar Azam in earlier years.

In the 2018 Asia Cup, in Dubai, he advanced to flick what he thought was the stock ball, only to be stranded as a googly bit off the pitch and ripped past his bat to clatter the stumps.

A year later in the ODI World Cup game at Old Trafford, he stayed crease-bound in fear of the googly, only for Kuldeep to drift one wide and then drag it back in to hit off and middle.

On Sunday, Kuldeep confessed at the presentation that he is far from satisfied, that he tries too many variations and must keep improving.

India’s left-arm wrist spinner keeps thinking ahead, reinventing, chiselling new layers to his craft. For Pakistan’s batsmen, he remains the nightmare.