Kuldeep Yadav’s performance against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday should not be of great significance, apparently, given the quality, or the lack of it, of the opposition. But it’s the opposite.

Kuldeep was one of the main architects behind India’s absolute dominance over the UAE. His figures of 2.1-0-7-4 helped India bundle out the home nation for just 57.

But while it was very difficult for the UAE batters to read the guile of Kuldeep, something even the best in the world often struggle to decipher, it is also a fact that the left-arm wrist spinner, who hardly played any cricket in the last four-odd months, arrived ready for the challenge.

Since the end of his IPL campaign in late May, Kuldeep had played just one competitive game before Wednesday’s contest. Benched right through the Test tour of England, the Duleep Trophy quarter-final tie for Central Zone against North East Zone was the only proper game Kuldeep had in close to four months.

“It’s not like Kuldeep made a comeback in this game, because in limited-overs cricket, he has more or less been a regular feature. So, this game for him was a return following a long layoff.

“Agreed, UAE aren’t the strongest of sides, but a bowler does tend to feel a tad jittery if he’s returning to action after a long layoff,” former national selector Devang Gandhi told The Telegraph on Thursday.

“In Kuldeep’s case, though, he managed the situation well, didn’t rush through his overs and kept hitting the right areas by consistently attacking the stumps,” Devang explained.

Importantly, India’s spin attack at present in T20Is is just as strong as their other departments, courtesy Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy.

“It’s very difficult for the opposition batters to maintain the tempo and keep churning out the big strokes as the two spinners are hardly giving any width. So that does bode well for India,” Devang acknowledged.

However, the job is not yet done. The Pakistan test lies ahead. Kapil Pandey, Kuldeep’s personal coach, believes the 30-year-old should stay alert.

“I told him last night (Wednesday) itself, ‘You did very well in this game, but keep it away now and start focusing on Pakistan.’

“I have categorically told him not to relax much and rather stay very alert. Just keep hitting the right areas, keep attacking the stumps and avoid width. That should help him to do well,” Pandey said.

“Though Kuldeep didn’t play in any of the games in England, he was very much into full-fledged practice, and then he trained under my supervision too (in Kanpur) after returning from England. So the hard work he has put in is bearing fruit.”