Kuldeep Yadav says, 'I Just Read the Wicket; It's Important to Get the Length Right'
The career of Kuldeep Yadav, who is a left-arm spinner, is on the upswing after going through a tough phase that saw him suffer a knee injury right when his form had deserted him in 2021. A surgery followed, and he started reworking on his action, the result of which is now evident as he produced a player-of-the-series award-winning performance with India winning the Asia Cup 2023.
He was told that his slow pace makes it easy for a batsman to deal with the turn, and hence he worked on increasing and changed his approach to the crease while ensuring the quality that made him a threat remained untouched.
While talking with his teammate Mohammed Siraj, he said, "I have worked a lot on the wrong’un in the last one and a half years. The rhythm is something that breaks off quite often and takes time to get it back. I’m lucky to have gained that rhythm back. It did take some time and wasn’t easy when I started; it kept breaking, but now, it’s going smooth and aggressive, along with the pace; I'm enjoying it a lot."
When asked about his process before bowling, Kuldeep said, "I don’t think a lot; I just read the wicket. It’s very important for me to get the length right and keep bowling at a good length."
He further added that "I also read the batter as to what shot he was trying to play. I have been efficiently using my wrong one and flipper crease, and I’m gaining a lot of confidence from this rhythm."