Kuldeep Yadav with teammates during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Bangladesh, at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda, Saturday, June 22, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Barbados: Kuldeep Yadav had to wait twenty days to get his slice of T20 World Cup action and has since been on quite the tear. The left-arm wrist spinner has picked up five wickets in eight overs in conditions which can be considered spin-friendly, but the wind has been a challenge.
Kuldeep had quite the laugh about being called the ‘Super Eight specialist’ since he has only come onto bowl after arriving in the Caribbean.
“Obviously, I wasn't playing. Actually, I was playing as a 12th man there. I was helping out the team-mates and carrying the drinks. That is more like playing,” he joked. “I didn't bowl there but I would have loved to bowl there (the United States of America).
"But it's more like an Australian sort of wicket. But here I played, I made my T20, One-Day international debut here back in 2017. I knew the condition very well, just the length and trying to vary my pace.”
Kuldeep has been the lead spinner for India for a year or so now, and his impact was enjoyed by the Delhi Capitals in this edition of the Indian Premier League where he picked up 16 wickets at a strike rate of 16.13. The tweaker, however, argued that his performances in the IPL cannot be considered here for the stakes are higher at this level.
"IPL is different, boss. What you experience in IPL is not what you are experiencing in the T20 World Cup. But bowling at the (Feroz Shah) Kotla (stadium in Delhi) teaches you a thing or two because that’s the smallest ground in the country. You have to adapt to succeed there. Once you pick up that kind of experience, you can use it anywhere, but see, it’s all about the length.
“Especially in this format, you have to read what the batter is trying to do, but you have to be more aggressive, the approach (to the crease) should be very aggressive. So that is helping me during IPL and it's helping me in T20 World Cup.”
Talking about the very real intervention of the wind at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium in North Sound, Antigua, Kuldeep said: “I was bowling from this end (dressing room), the wind was like crossing this way (to its right). It was difficult from this end. I didn't think about the wind, just the length, and then just keep working out what the batter wants to do and forcing him to play against the wind.”