India’s first ODI win in South Africa after a long gap of around 7 years came on the backdrop of a great century by captain Virat Kohli and an excellent bowling effort by wrist spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Chahal and Kuldeep baffled the Proteas batsmen and ran through the middle order to restrict South Africa to 269. The duo bowled a total of 20 overs and picked up 5 wickets and conceded just 79 runs helping India draw first blood in the ODI series.

The particularly notable performance came from Kuldeep Yadav who picked up three wickets. Talking about his first outing in South Africa, Kuldeep said, “Actually I was confused a bit what I should bowl because I am playing in South Africa for the first time and it was a new experience for me. The wind was good and the ball was drifting so I was confused what to bowl, and which variation to use. So I was asking Mahi bhai (Dhoni) and he told me ‘bowl as you are bowling’. It is good that he keeps advising from behind the wickets, it gets easier.”

Also read: Kohli praises the spinners

As quoted in PTI, Kuldeep praised the support he got from Kohli and MS Dhoni, he said, “When you have two legends, Virat (Kohli) and Mahi, one is leading the team and the other has led the team, it is helpful. As a spinner, Mahi bhai does 50 percent of your work because he has played so much cricket, he reads the batsmen easily.”

Yadav possesses a unique ability to pitch the ball up to the batsmen and give the extra flight and when asked where does it come from, he replied, “The mindset comes from the captain. The way Virat bhai talks, he always tells us one extra wicket is more important than trying to save 10 runs. If your captain tells you that, then you start believing yourself. We then back our strengths.”