Familiarity with Eden was an advantage: Kuldeep
that with a big knock tomorrow. Besides Sharma, opener Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, the young Rishabh Pant, and Manish Pandey also had a bad day in office in the series- opener.
It took responsible 34ball 31 from Dinesh Karthik and a nine- ball 21run unbeaten cameo from newcomer Krunal Pandya to steer India home in 17.5 overs.
But a come Tuesday, Lucknow, which is hosting its first international match at the newly- built Ekana Stadium, would be eager to see a more dominant performance from the home team, one that’s befitting the gulf in quality between the two sides.
On the bowling front, leftarm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav stole the limelight with brilliant figures of 3/ 13 from his four overs, while left- arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed ( 1/ 16) and Pandya ( 1/ 15) were economical.
Pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar will the experienced pace duo of Umesh Yadav ( 1/ 36) and Jasprit Bumrah ( 1/ 27) would aim for a much better show on Tuesday.
West Indies, on the other hand, would be desperate to return home with some positivity at the end of a two- month long series in which they lost both the Test and ODI series. lot of confidence. I know for instance that if you vary your pace on this surface you will get your reward. It helps a lot and gives me immense confidence,” said Kuldeep, who also completed 100 wickets in T20 cricket.
The Kanpur- born Kuldeep was handed an Indian Premier League contract in 2012 by the Mumbai Indians, but he failed to make the playing XI in his debut season, despite making headlines for beating Sachin Tendulkar with a wrong one at the nets.
Transferred to Kolkata Knight Riders two years later, Kuldeep warmed the bench in their second IPLwinning campaign, only to make debut in a Champions League match against Lahore Lions in Hyderabad on September 21, 2014. Since then the left- arm unorthodox spinner has become a vital cog in KKR’s attack and formed a formidable pair with Yuzvendra Chahal in the Indian limited overs set- up.
Kuldeep also shared his knowledge with debutant left- arm spin all- rounder Krunal Pandya during a partnership that stymied whatever hopes the West Indies had of a revival. “He came on in the seventh over and I in the eighth. The only chat we had was that the wicket was not offering turn but the ball was gripping,” he said. Yadav came up with a special trick when he bowled a front- of- the- hand delivery at speeds clocking more than 100 kmph.
Kuldeep, who had started off with left- arm pace bowling in his formative years, said the ball has been a work in progress since his under19 days. “It’s been four- five years since I started bowling this delivery at the nets. Sometimes, in the last series as well, I bowled couple of these. I am getting confident with this delivery and using it in match situations as
well.”