Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], March 9 : Among the leading wicket-takers for India in the ongoing Test series against England, wily chinaman Kuldeep Yadav has taken some crucial, yet unnoticed, forward strides as a lower-batter, coming up with handy contributions with the willow when the team required him to hold the fort.

In the first innings of the ongoing fifth and final Test, Kuldeep frustrated English bowlers with yet another lengthy stay at the crease just when the visitors entertained thoughts of a comeback of sorts after claiming some quick wickets following a run-fest by the top-order.

He made 30 off 69 balls, with two fours. However, more than the runs he put on the board, it was his occupation of the crease that contributed to the Indian cause.

Kuldeep was involved in a 49-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Jasprit Bumrah, who, too, came up with a handy score of 20. The hosts led England by 259 as they closed their first innings at 477 runs, in reply to the visitors' score of 218 in the first dig.

The spinner aggregated 97 runs across six matches in the ongoing series at an average of 19.4, with the best score of 30. He had scores of 8*, 0, 4, 27, 28 and 30 in the series. These 97 runs were worth their weight in gold considering how the series panned out.

Though yet to record a batting milestone against his name in his still-young Test career, his lengthy occupation of the crease and ability to come up with handy contributions lower down the order put the hosts firmly on the road to a series win. The demonstration of his batting ability augurs well for India, with leading spin-bowling all-rounders Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the twilight of their careers.