Easier to bowl to batsmen hitting big, says Kuldeep
CENTURION: Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal held fort in the opening ODI at Durban on Thursday, but South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis believes the role of spinners will come down in the remaining five games.
“I don’t think the wickets we’re going to play on in future – Pretoria (Centurion) and Jo’burg will make you struggle much in that middle period. When you go to Wanderers or Pretoria, there is very little spin. Spin bowlers will have little effect,” Du Plessis said. Kuldeep and Chahal, both playing in South Africa for the first time, ran through South Africa’s middle order sharing five wickets.
It will be interesting to see what kind of bowling attack Kohli fields in Sunday’s ODI at Centurion. The success of Chahal and Kuldeep may tempt him to play them both. Kuldeep’s first over in South Africa on Thursday was quite unlike that of a first-timer despite the nerves that came with the new experience. The Chinaman bowler and leg-spinner Chahal stuck to a wicket-taking line and length instead of a restrictive approach one and looked unplayable as their deliveries stopped and turned. Against the world No 1 side, they bowled 64 dot balls. The confidence to go for an attacking line and length comes from the backing of their skipper — they have been asked to provide breakthroughs even if they come at the cost of runs. “Virat bhai keeps telling us ‘if you go for 10 runs extra and if you are giving me wicket, then it is fine’,”
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I took a chance. I thought I could get him out. I wasn’t scared of the six. I believe if I try to stop runs, I’ll get hit for more.
KULDEEP, on his Durban haul
said Kuldeep.
He confessed he battled nerves early on. He was somewhat confused, but former skipper MS Dhoni, who guides bowlers from behind the stumps, came to his rescue. “He told me to keep bowling the way I have been. We are new and don’t have much experience, but when you have a former captain and current skipper giving support, you end up backing your abilities.”
With the license to go for wickets, the duo could attack. This was evident in the 41st over when Kuldeep enticed Chris Morris by floating the second ball of the over outside offstump. The set all-rounder hit a six.
“I took a chance. I thought I could get him out. I wasn’t scared of the six. I believe if I try to stop runs, I’ll get hit for more,” he said. “It’s 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.”
Morris is one of those who favours big shots. Expecting Kuldeep to bowl flatter after being hit for six, he got into position to sweep. But Kuldeep stuck to his line thanks to the backing of Virat and MS. Morris misjudged the length and line to be bowled a couple of deliveries after hitting the six.