Switching formats is tough: Kuldeep
HYDERABAD: India head coach Ra vi Shastri thinks Kuldeep Yadav has become the Test team’ s number one spinner in overseas conditions but the left-arm bowl er says he remains a work in progress in the format he love sand is more settled in white-ball cricket. The 24-year-old went back to the drawing board after he was dropped following the lone Test at Lord’s in Englandlast year. He came back stronger with stellar performances in the home series against West Indies before picking a five-wicket haul in the only Test he played in the historic series win in Australia.
“If you’re playing with the white ball regularly, it becomes easy to adjust. I’m more settled in white-ball cricket, I never feel any pressure. For any spinner in ODIs, there’s a limited quota, so you need to attack in that way. You need to challenge yourself every time to perform for the team ,” Kuldeep told ESPNCri-cinfo when asked if he feels more confident in the shorter formats.
Looking back at the last 12 months, he acknowledges how tough it is to switch formats.
“It’s very difficult to switch from white-ball cricket tored-ball cricket. If you keep playing redball cricket, it’s easy to adjust as a spinner, but I’m regularly playing with the white ball, so when I got the chance (at Lord’s where he went wicket less), I wasn’t prepared enough.
“For me, red-ball cricket is the biggest challenge. Everyone loves Test cricket and I’m no different... I wasn’t used to bowling with the Dukes ball( in England ), so when I returned, I worked hard with my coach (Kapil Pandey).”
Kuldeep made an impact in Australia by taking five wickets in Sydney, the final Test of the series, which India won 2-1.
“It felt like I was making my debut. I didn’t want to make the mistakes I made at Lord’s. I planned. Like, Usman Khawaja is a good player through the off side, so I planned to bowl a few wrong ’uns to him,” he said.
Interactions with Shane Warne in Australia also helped. “We met every morning of the Tests. Before the Tests, I was bowling well, so I told him I’m in good rhythm, getting turn and getting everything I wanted to get out of my bowling. He looked at my action and spoke to me about handling different situations, how to bowl when you’re under pressure.”
Asked about the changes Warne suggested, he said: “He pointed to my knees bending at the time of release and body alignment. Hefeltifit is straight, I’d be able to use my core better and flight the ball more.”