Kuldeep Yadav Credits Bowling on Concrete Wickets Behind His Success

Oct 18, 2017 at 2:53 PM

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Kuldeep Yadav Credits Bowling on Concrete Wickets Behind His Success

Team India wrist spinner who has already made a name for himself on the international circuit Kuldeep Yadav has credited bowling on concrete pitches behind his success in international cricket so far. He feels that this habit will allow him to be battle ready for any kind of surface that the opposition lays out for him.

The left-arm chinaman bowler who bagged a sensational hat-trick during the 2nd ODI of the five-match series against Australia has become a household name after playing only a couple of Tests and 11 ODI’s. He was instrumental in India’s 4-1 series win against Australia. With the series against New Zeland just a few days away he feels that his variations as a left-arm wrist spinner will be his weapon on any track.

Virat Kohli and Kuldeep Yadav.

Despite his early success in the international circuit, the experts are of the opinion that he needs to prove himself when the team travels for abroad tours like South Africa, England and Australia.

“It doesn’t matter to me where I am playing because since my childhood I have bowled on cemented wickets. So if you can turn the ball on concrete then you can spin it anywhere,” Kuldeep said.

“If you have skill, good variation and are beating the batsmen in the air then you can find success anywhere,” added Kuldeep. Kuldeep started his cricketing career as a fast bowler but at the age of 9, he changed to wrist spin on his coach’s insistence.

Kuldeep started as a pace bowler, but at the age of nine, he switched to wrist spin at his coach’s insistence.

“I started my career in 2004 as a fast bowler. After practising for a few months my coach advised me to switch to spin.

“I did not like it at the start, but the first ball I bowled was wrist spin and I had no idea what it was. So, he must have thought I have a talent and he worked on it. Initially, it was tough but when I got down to it, the hard work paid off.”

Kuldeep, Chahal and Rohit Sharma shares a light moment during a practise session.

Kuldeep was extremely happy about the fact that he got success against Australia who usually plays an attacking brand of cricket irrespective of the situation. He bamboozled many top class Aussie batsmen, and the most prominent of them was opener David Warner who found it difficult to read his regular leg breaks and the wrong un.

“Australia are a good team and compared to other sides always play dominating cricket. Their batsmen don’t allow you to settle and just want to dominate a bowler. Australia are a dangerous side because they play freely and put you under pressure. I played in the West Indies and then in Sri Lanka but they don’t play as attacking as the Aussies,” Kuldeep said.

Kuldeep stated that he grew up watching videos of Aussie spin legend Shane Warne and credits him for being his reference point in becoming a wrist spinner. It is a rare art, and Kuldeep must have had all the ingredients of becoming a wrist spinner, and that is what prompted his coach to make him change his bowling style.

Warne recently conceded that Kuldeep could go on to become the best leg-spinner in the world if he remains patient and also compared him with the Pakistani Yasir Shah who has been touted as the best leg-spinner currently by Shane Warne.

Kuldeep Yadav. Image Courtesy: BCCI

“It’s great to be compared to a top spinner like Yasir Shah. It’s heartening to see praise coming from my idol. It reassures my belief in my talent,” said Kuldeep. “It makes me happy that he (Warne) backs me and I feel there is some more talent in me.”

Kuldeep has forged a great partnership with another leggie Yuzvendra Chahal and the dup are providing tough competition to Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and has even kept them out of the side after their recent success.

“You cannot replace anyone. Ashwin and Jaddu bhai are the number one and number two spinners of India and I will always look up to learn from them. They have done extremely well in Test, ODI and T20 cricket. We are very young and have to play much more cricket to even get close to them,” Kuldeep said of Ashwin and Jadeja.

The wrist spinner also credited Virat Kohli for nurturing young and raw talent.

“It has been a team effort and especially the way Virat Kohli has led the team and backed us, youngsters. It has made all the difference and been the biggest factor for our success,” he said.

“I don’t plan much. I just think that every game is important and the more I keep performing, the better my chances of enjoying a long run with team India,” Kuldeep signed off.

Kuldeep Yadav. Image Courtesy: Getty Images
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