Kuldeep Yadav Opens Up On His Test Debut For India

Aug 29, 2020 at 2:02 PM

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Kuldeep Yadav Opens Up On His Test Debut For India

Kuldeep Yadav, who hails from Uttar Pradesh was considered for Indian senior team after consistent performances for India in Under-19 World Cup in 2014. Kuldeep is the first left-arm wrist spinner to represent India in Tests and is the third chinaman bowler to claim a four-wicket haul in a Test debut.

The promising bowler Kuldeep has got limited opportunities in Tests due to presence of spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja but has performed extraordinary well picking up 36 wickets from just six matches averaging 24.12 only (with the ball). He has taken five wickets in an innings twice and his best bowling figure read five for 57 in Tests.

Kuldeep Yadav Felt Nervous Before Debut Test

Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav bagged four wickets in the fourth Test at Dharamsala. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Kuldeep Yadav debuted in Tests against Australia in 2017 — and his last Test too came against Australia in 2019.

“It was an honour! I was on the bench for three matches but kept preparing myself with Anil sir (Kumble), our the then coach. He backed me a lot. He exactly knew the kind of mindset young spinners have. I remember, a day before the debut, we were having lunch together. He told me, you are playing tomorrow and I want 5 wickets from you. I was a little intimidated but I confidently said that I would definitely take. I slept early at 9: 00 PM and got up at 3:00 AM, confused and nervous,” Kuldeep said in an episode of Knights Unplugged for KKR.

Kuldeep Yadav, who debuted in the fourth Test match of the series held at Dharmasala and played besides Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as the third spinner. Uncomfortable Kuldeep even tried to wake up his captain Virat Kohli in the wee hours of the morning on his Test debut back in 2017.

“I wanted to wake up Virat bhai who was next doors. But I was sure he would get mad at me. So, I went back to sleep and got up at 6:00 AM. Somehow, I managed to spend one hour, ate breakfast and reached the ground. I was quite nervous but felt comfortable the moment all team members joined in. I got my cap and was feeling blank. It is a dream for all young cricketers to play Test cricket and my dream was coming true. I was pretty emotional. I remember I was fielding at deep square leg, and I was still nervous. But then I decided to just react normally like any other Ranji game,” he further said.

Kuldeep Yadav Was Emotional And Happy To Pick Up Debut Test Wicket:

Kuldeep Yadav, Test Cricket
Kuldeep made his Test debut at Dharamsala against Australia in 2017. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Kuldeep Yadav picked up the wickets of David Warner, Steven Smith, Peter Handscomb and Glenn Maxwell. The later two batsmen were bowled while the other two were catches taken by Ajinkya Rahane, who was also the stand-in captain for the test.

“When I came to bowl, Steve Smith hit a boundary off a googly in my second over and I realised the difference between international and state level cricket. Following lunch, I just tried to be relaxed and give my best. I started strategizing my game and bowled a few slower ones to David Warner and then mixed it up with a flipper, feeling it might clean him up or trap him LBW.

“He played the cut straight to the slip. That was my first wicket. It was one of the most happiest moments of my life and I got really emotional. My confidence rose and I got (Peter) Handscomb and (Glenn) Maxwell too. Once the day got over, I spoke to Sachin sir and he told me a lot of things about how to approach the game. I was flooded with messages and calls. When I was lying on my bed at night and I started reflecting to realise how much I had to struggle to reach that point. I had tears of joy at that moment,” he concluded.

The figures of Kuldeep Yadav read 4/68 and 0/23 in the two innings of the Test which was won by India by eight wickets. Eventually, India won the Test series 2-1.

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