Easier to bowl to batsmen hitting big, says Kuldeep
Kuldeep Yadav’s first over in South Africa on Thursday was quite unlike a firsttimer’s despite the nerves that came along with the new experience.
The Chinaman bowler did what he knows best – tease the batsmen with flight and loop even though it entails risk. His partner, leggie Yuzvendra Chahal, also on his first international tour to South Africa, managed quite the same.
Against the world No. 1 ODI side, the two bowled 64 dot balls, that is almost 11 overs — without a run — out of their 20.
The wrist spinners have been asked to provide breakthroughs even if they leaked runs.
“Virat bhai keeps telling us that if you go for 10 runs extra and if you are giving me wicket, then it is fine,” said Kuldeep after India beat South Africa by six wickets in Durban.
Which is exactly why, even while Morris was trying the big hits, Kuldeep didn’t alter his style. While he took three wickets, eventually scalping Morris too, Chahal got two wickets as they ran through the Proteas middle order to help India register their first win over the hosts in Durban.
“Du Plessis and Morris were going great guns and if Morris would have stayed, then the score could have got to 290-300. So I thought we needed a wicket. I believe that if I try to stop runs, then I’ll get hit for more,” said the Chinaman bowler about the 41st over where he was first hit for a six by Morris and then took his wicket a couple of balls later.
“I took a chance. I thought I could get him out. I wasn’t
scared of the six.”
DURBAN: Du Plessis and Morris were going great guns and if Morris would have stayed, then the score could have got to 290300. If I try to stop runs, then I’ll get hit for more.
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SETTING UP Kuldeep says bowling to aggressive batsmen, who like to it big and hard is easier for him than bowling to batsmen who rotate strike. No wonder, His wickets on Thursday included Morris and David Miller. “It is easy to bowl to batsmen who hit big. It becomes easier for you to plan. If someone keeps rotating the strike then it becomes tough to take a wicket. If you have Ajinkya batting in front of you, it is different,” he added.
So far he and Chahal have been managing to scalp the big fish. “If you bowl quality, you’ll trouble any batsman and if you are going to drift, if your ball is going to dip and turn then it will trouble anyone who is batting. The more we take wickets, the more other teams get under pressure and their total will be less too.”
It is easy to bowl to batsmen who hit big. If someone keeps rotating the strike then it becomes tough to take a wicket. If Ajinkya (Rahane) batting in front of you, it is different.