ESPNcricinfo Awards 2017 Debutant of the year: The man who took 43
Tests: 9 wickets at 20.77 (2 matches)
ODIs: 22 wickets at 24.77 (14 matches)
T20Is: 12 wickets at 14.50 SR (8 matches)
Kuldeep Yadav has the air of a man who likes to keep things simple. He talks nonchalantly about the irrelevance of pitch conditions, and how he isn't too concerned if teams figure him out. Complete with clichés about "right areas" and hitting them often, in a manner worthy of a media-trained veteran cricketer. At one point last year, he even addressed a press conference where he meditated upon the mental edge he had over David Warner, to whom he says he enjoys bowling. He was two Tests and a few ODIs old at that point.
For a 23-year-old who still relies on archive videos of Shane Warne when he has a bad day, Kuldeep has taken to international cricket easily - a feat even his legspinning hero couldn't achieve.
Kuldeep's Test debut followed a Ranji season where he was Uttar Pradesh's top wicket-taker and run scorer both. In his first innings at the highest level, he made an immediate, match-winning impact when he exposed Australia's middle order after they had made a strong start in the Dharamsala Test. A successful IPL followed, and by the second half of the year, he had forged a destructive ODI partnership with Yuzvendra Chahal that seems to have trumped the Ashwin-Jadeja alliance in India's limited-overs side. Along the way, he became the second Indian to take a hat-trick in ODIs.
Key moment
Kuldeep dismissed Warner a couple of times in 2017. The first was when he ended the Australia opener's innings in the first innings of the Dharamsala Test. Warner had got to his only fifty of the series in a 134-run stand with Steven Smith, who was having a dream series. Australia's middle order had barely stood up to India's spin in the series, so the successful coming together of Australia's two best batsmen was a road block for India, who had lost the toss on a pitch that wasn't blatantly in favour of spin.
Kuldeep's long first spell would make the difference. He pushed one through and got it to take the edge as Warner fended with hard hands; drew Peter Handscomb into a drive with his drift, only to open up a gap between bat and pad; and followed that up with another bowled dismissal - a googly that got the better of Glenn Maxwell. Australia fell from 144 for 1 to 178 for 5. Once again, Smith had to bear the burden.
The numbers
4 Number of three-wicket hauls Kuldeep took in 12 ODI innings in 2017.
2 Number of Indians who have taken hat-tricks in ODIs. Kuldeep is the latest.
What they said
"If he bowls a bad ball, it is usually a fuller ball. He hardly bowls a short delivery. That kind of consistency for a wristspinner is a massive quality to have. If you have to mistake you'd much rather make it fuller than shorter. He hardly bowls long hops which is a big quality to have."
- Gautam Gambhir, who captained Kuldeep in the IPL
"It becomes difficult when he bowls cross-seam deliveries turning both ways. Usually bowlers bowl seam-up deliveries turning in and cross-seam bowling the googly. But he can do both bowling cross-seam, so that becomes difficult to pick from the wrist."
- Virat Kohli, India captain
The closest contenders
Fakhar Zaman
Zaman brought an attacking style long missing from Pakistan's top order in ODIs. His best performance was a century against India to set up the Champions Trophy win for Pakistan.
Shadab Khan
He graduated from T20 tyke in the PSL to one of Pakistan's strike bowlers alongside Hasan Ali. Shadab also emerged as one of Pakistan's best fielders and is now considered a long-term No. 7 batsman.
Varun Shetty is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo