The coming weekend is special for Kuldeep Yadav. It marks a year for the Chinaman bowler in international cricket, and he has come a long way since his Test debut against Australia in Dharamsala.<\/p>\n
The rarity of a Chinaman or left-arm wrist-spinner has ensured the moniker \u2018mystery bowler\u2019 has got attached to his name, though the 23-year-old Kanpur player doesn\u2019t make much of that tag.<\/p>\n
However, in this interview, Kuldeep says modern technology or video analysis may not help teams dissect his bowling.<\/p>\n
\u201cTechnology has been there for a long time. If you are turning the ball, drifting it and deceiving opposition batsman, nobody can stop you from being a successful spinner. I don\u2019t believe video analysis can make a big difference in understanding my bowling,\u201d Kuldeep said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are small aspects you work on, which no analyst can catch. It\u2019s about understanding the batsman\u2019s thinking and attacking him that way. How well you deceive him in match situation is important. Those are the small things that you hone with regular practice, which becomes the differentiating factor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kuldeep\u2019s claims are backed by great numbers so far. Since making his India debut on March 25, 2017, he has scalped 60 wickets across formats \u2013 nine in two Tests, 39 in 20 ODIs and 12 in eight T20Is.<\/p>\n
But if there has been one highlight for Kuldeep, it is the 17 wickets he took in six ODIs in the recent South Africa away ODI series. His tally is the most by a spinner in South Africa, surpassing Muttiah Muralitharan\u2019s achievement (14 wickets) in 1998.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy aim was to take 15 wickets in six matches. I got two extra and I was very happy, especially because my role was important in the team\u2019s series win.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my first tour and there was not much pressure. My preparation was good. I worked with my coach in Kanpur and also in NCA. I had confidence and belief in my skills.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kuldeep\u2019s attitude of not taking pressure ahead of a big occasion has reflected in his bowling. His partnership with fellow wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has also stood out in the last one year.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes, according to situation you have to contain the batsmen. But our (Kuldeep and Chahal) main aim is to take wickets. We often get hit for fours or sixes but it has never deterred us. Our bowling style is not such that we will restrict the batsman too much, there will be runs but there will be wickets too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are together for five years. We back each other. In limited overs cricket, the middle overs are very important. We try to give the team wickets during that time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wrist-spinners vs finger-spinners<\/p>\n
Kuldeep and Chahal\u2019s rise in Indian cricket has seen senior finger-spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja sitting out of the limited overs teams since August.Kuldeep steers clear of any wrist-spinner versus finger-spinner debate.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, genuine wrist-spinners are those who can turn the ball both ways, give good flight and trouble the batsman. No matter the format, if he can turn the ball, the batsman will face problems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf any right arm off-spinner or left-arm (orthodox) spinner can turn the ball and create problem for the batsman, then he will have the advantage. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a case of whether wrist-spinners are better than off-spinners.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The coming weekend is special for Kuldeep Yadav. It marks a year for the Chinaman bowler in international cricket, and he has come a long way since his Test debut against Australia in Dharamsala. The rarity of a Chinaman or left-arm wrist-spinner has ensured the moniker \u2018mystery bowler\u2019 has got attached to his name, though […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25623,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25622"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25624,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25622\/revisions\/25624"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}