He made his Test debut even as the great spin quartet was breaking up and, predictably enough, Shivlal Yadav faced uncharitable comparisons with his illustrious predecessors. It was to the credit of this stout hearted cricketer that he more than held his own and commanded a more or less regular place in the Indian team till 1987. At the time of his last Test, his overall figures compared favourably with the best Indian spin bowlers.

An offspinner who possessed many fine qualities, Yadav was not afraid to flight the ball. He was never a big turner of the ball but had tremendous stamina, was steadiness personified and he was hardly ever collared. He made a striking debut when in his first series against Australia in 1979, he took 24 wickets in five Tests and his success led to the exclusion of Venkatraghavan. He fitted in admirably with Shastri and Doshi to form the spin trio of the early 80s. He lost his place for a while but regained a spot when the West Indies toured India in 1983-84, picking up five for 131 in the first innings of the fourth Test at Bombay. He was overshadowed by L Sivaramakrishnan against England in 1984-85 but was outstanding against Australia in 1985-86 picking up 15 wickets in the three Tests. This included a match haul of eight wickets in the final game at Sydney when he almost bowled India to victory. Used to long spells (he sent down 75 overs in one innings against Pakistan at Faisalabad in 1984) Yadav bowled 95.3 overs in this match. He again did well against the Australians in the return series in India in 1986-87 and later the same season registered his best innings figures of five for 76 against Sri Lanka at Nagpur. He did reasonably well in what turned out to be his last series, against Pakistan later in the season and in his penultimate Test took his 100th wicket.

Since retiring, Yadav has been prominent in Hyderabad cricket administration.