India’s young wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav reckons that bowling on concrete has helped him to improve his bowling and made him battle-ready for any surface.
Recently, Kuldeepclaime d a hat-trick in his country’s victorious ODI series against Australia and he has become a household name at this early age. He played a crucial role in India’s 4-1 win over Australia, but many believe that he will be put to a real test will come in tours of South Africa and England next year.
Ahead of India’s series against New Zealand, starting Sunday, Kuldeep said, “It doesn’t matter to me where I am playing because since my childhood I have bowled on cemented wickets. So if you can turn the ball on concrete then you can spin it anywhere. If you have skill, good variation and are beating the batsmen in the air then you can find success anywhere.”
Kuldeep started his career as a fast bowler but at the age of nine, he switched to wrist spin at his coach’s insistence. Describing the same, he said, “I started my career in 2004 as a fast bowler. After practicing for a few months my coach advised me to switch to spin. I did not like it at the start, but the first ball I bowled was wrist spin and I had no idea what it was. So, he must have thought I have a talent and he worked on it. Initially, it was tough but when I got down to it, the hard work paid off.”
Kuldeep also impressed one and all in Sri Lanka in September and then left Australian batsmen clueless, including star opener David Warner, with his wrist spin, winning many more fans. He said, “Australia are a good team and compared to other sides always play dominating cricket. Their batsmen don’t allow you to settle and just want to dominate a bowler. Australia are a dangerous side because they play freely and put you under pressure. I played in the West Indies and then in Sri Lanka but they don’t play as attacking as the Aussies.”
The chinaman bowler insisted that individual success comes out of the team’s hard work and praised skipper Virat Kohli for backing the youngsters. He said, “It has been a team effort and especially the way Virat Kohli has led the team and backed us youngsters. It has made all the difference and been the biggest factor for our success. I don’t plan much. I just think that every game is important and the more I keep performing, the better my chances of enjoying a long run with team India.”
