Cricket Seniors have been supportive: Kuldeep
Mumbai, Oct. 20: Kuldeep Yadav might have missed an opportunity to make his ODI debut in the series against the West Indies, but the ‘ Chinaman’ has been brimming with joy having rubbed shoulders with the best in the business in the Indian dressing room. Kuldeep said it was an outstanding feeling to be a part of the Indian team. “I still remember the first time I walked towards the team; everyone greeted me with a lot of kindness and welcomed me with open arms. They spoke to me and that first team meeting is still fresh in my mind. It felt great and the atmosphere was very different to other dressing rooms that I had been part of,” Kuldeep told BCCI. TV.
All of 19, Kuldeep was the youngest member of the India squad that played the West Indies. Did he ever visualise himself in the Indian
I still remember the first time I walked towards the team; everyone greeted me with a lot of kindness and welcomed me with open arms. They spoke to me and that first team meeting is still fresh in my mind. It felt great and the atmosphere was very different to other dressing rooms that I had been part of. — KULDEEP YADAV, left- arm spinner
dressing room at such a young age? “To be very honest I never imagined that. But having said that, this is the age when your talent gets noticed if you are good and I did feel that I could belong here. When I started playing cricket I never set myself long term goals. I always believed in taking one step at a time,” said Kuldeep.
Kuldeep said his statemate Suresh Raina has been a great motivator. “He was the first person from the Indian team to call me when I got selected. I received a call from Raina bhai within ten minutes of the news. It was a great feeling to see his name flashing on my phone. I then met Raina during the final of the Champions League T20 and that is the same time I met our captain Dhoni as well who congratulated me. It felt great to see the support of the senior players in the team,” he added.
Yet to feature in a firstclass game, the Uttar Pradesh cricketer feels his career is at a pivotal stage. “This is a very important phase in my life. The more games I watch and the more conversations I have with the senior players in the side, the more mature I will get. It is a huge thing to be a part of the Indian team and I am learning a lot by just being among this bunch. These are the things that one can only learn being inside the dressing room. As a youngster this is the biggest learning curve in my cricketing career so far,” he added.