One of the major surprises in the Indian Premier League 2019 was the failure of Kuldeep Yadav. The local stars and the foreigners picked his line and lengths with ease to smash him out of the park more often than not. It also led to his removal from the playing XI. Meanwhile, the head coach Jacques Kallis makes his voice on the exclusion of Kuldeep Yadav.
KKR faced a lot of criticism for dropping Kuldeep in the last two matches against Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians before the upcoming World Cup. The Knight Riders have lost six straight matches before winning against Mumbai. Currently, they stand at the sixth position in the IPL league standings with 10 points from 12 matches.
The 50-over format is different – Jacques Kallis
Meanwhile, the head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Jacques Kallis, said that the omission of spinner Kuldeep Yadav from the team was done keeping in mind the team’s balance. He is quite sure that it would not affect his performance in the upcoming World Cup.
“The wickets we have played on at Eden Gardens this year, it hasn’t spun at all and it has been tough for spinners. It has been a tough year for him but he will learn from this. You have got to understand 50-over format is quite different from the 20-over format,” Kallis told reporters on the eve of KKR’s match against Kings XI Punjab.
Further, he went on to add saying that the world cup is a different format and Kuldeep Yadav is going to be lethal for the team. Kallis also revealed that Kuldeep is working hard in the nets, which would help him gain wickets in the showpiece event.
“I don’t think it will affect him, it’s just a different format and unfortunately looking at the makeup of the side, he has not played the last couple of games. He has been working quite hard in the nets and seems to be getting it right again, so I am sure he will be okay for the World Cup,” he added.
Currently, they are sixth and need to win the game against Kings XI Punjab at any cost. If they manage to win against them and then secure a victory against Mumbai, they got the chance to enter playoffs.