ST LUCIA: If there's one bowler whose non-inclusion in the India playing XI in the New York leg of the
T20 World Cup
was slightly criticized in different quarters, it is
Kuldeep Yadav
.
The chinaman bowler has been India's best spinner across formats in recent times, still the Indian team management was waiting to employ him in slightly more favourable conditions for spinners than what it was at New York.
But as the coaches kept explaining
Kuldeep
the situation, the wrist-spinner didn't lose heart and he delivered the moment he got his chance in West Indies.
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Performances of 2-32 against
Afghanistan
and 3-19 against Bangladesh have proved how well-prepared in his mind Kuldeep was. The bowler mentioned that he "would have loved to bowl in New York", but he felt totally included in everything that was going on. "I wasn't playing, but I was the 12th man there. I was helping out the teammates and carrying the drinks, so that is more like playing. I didn't bowl there but I would have loved to because it was more like pitches in Australia," Kuldeep said after India's comprehensive win against Bangladesh.
It was in the West Indies that Kuldeep made his T20 debut back in 2017. He had a fair idea of what to expect in the Caribbean that helped. "I knew the condition very well --the length to bowl and the importance of varying the pace. It was perfect for the spinners to come here and bowl," Kuldeep added.
The left-armer explained how he doesn't think much about the conditions, which way the wind is blowing and all that when he comes into bowl. For him, it is more about the length and outthinking the batsman. "I didn't think about the wind, just the length mattered. And obviously reading the batter and what they are expecting from me. It is about just reading one step ahead what the batters are thinking and reacting to it," Kuldeep said.
It was evident that he was outsmarting the batters when he got
Tanzid Hasan
with a beautiful googly as the right-hander shaped to go to his back-foot. As for
Towhid Hridoy
, the mode of dismissal was the same, just that the ball turned in the opposite direction after landing in the same spot.
Kuldeep plays his IPL cricket for Delhi Capitals, whose home ground is
Ferozeshah Kotla
, which isn't the easiest venue for a spinner. Coming from there, the T20 World Cup was a welcome relief for Kuldeep.
"IPL is totally different, what you experience in IPL is what you are experiencing in the T20 World Cup are not the same…For me, wherever I play, it is about being more aggressive. That actually helped me in the IPL and it is helping me here as well," Kuldeep said, hoping to keep it going against Australia in their last Super-8 game on Monday.
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