Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav is quietly edging towards a landmark that underlines his journey from young bowler to one of India’s most dependable white-ball players. As the Indian team prepares to host New Zealand in the three-match ODI series from January 11, the left-arm unorthodox spinner finds himself just nine wickets away from completing 200 scalps in the 50-over format.

Since making his ODI debut in 2017, the left-arm leggie has built a reputation for picking up wickets in the middle overs. In 117 ODIs so far, he has picked up 191 wickets at an impressive average of 26.29, numbers that reflect both consistency and impact. He will become the eighth Indian bowler to pick 200-plus wickets if he gets to the milestone in the upcoming series, and only the fourth among spinners.

The benchmark in Indian ODI bowling continues to be set by Anil Kumble, who finished his career with 334 wickets from 269 matches. Other prominent names on the list include Javagal Srinath (315), Ajit Agarkar (288), and Zaheer Khan (269), while spinners Harbhajan Singh (265) and Ravindra Jadeja (232) have also crossed the mark. Mohammed Shami (206) and Kapil Dev (253) further highlight the stature of the club Kuldeep is going to join.

The Uttar Pradesh cricketer's tally already includes nine four-wicket hauls and a couple of five-wicket outings as well, reinforcing his value as a strike bowler rather than a containing option. Apart from reaching the landmark of 200 wickets, Kuldeep needs just six more scalps to overtake the tally of veteran bowler Venkatesh Prasad (196).

The 2025 ODI season was another solid chapter in Kuldeep’s career. He finished the year with 19 wickets from 11 matches at an average of 29.00, with the best spell of 4-41. While not headline-grabbing every outing, his spells consistently applied pressure and opened doors for others, and also played a crucial part in the Men in Blue's success in the format in the previous year, including a win in the Champions Trophy.