Star India spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been “spending a lot of time” with the veteran spinner Ravindra Jadeja, both on and off the field, picking his brains before India’s five-match Test series in England, starting June 20 as well. However, Kuldeep has played only one Test in England so far, at Lord’s way back in 2018.
He gave away 44 in nine overs and failed to pick up a wicket in England’s only innings as well. Since then, although he has evolved into a more rounded bowler, and currently has 56 wickets in 13 Tests, which came at an average of 22.16 and a strike rate of 37.3, – better by any other spinner in Test history with a cut-off of 50 wickets as well.
“Playing alongside Jadeja is such a great honour for me,” Kuldeep Yadav said. “Obviously, Jadeja and [R] Ashwin have been brilliant over the last few years. When I made my debut in India, they helped me a lot. And even now, we have been having a lot of chat about how to bowl to certain batters, given the way the England batters are batting at the moment. I’m actually spending a lot of time with him, not only on the field, but also outside as well. So it has actually helped me a lot in terms of tactics and the field placements, and he has given some tips as well.”
In the team bus, Kuldeep Yadav has been sitting next to Ravindra Jadeja, taking over a seat previously occupied by former India captain Rohit Sharma, who is now retired from Test cricket as well.
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“I can never take Rohit bhai’s place,” he said. “It’s just that I’m spending a lot of time with Jaddu bhai. It’s obviously very important for me as a spinner, because Ash bhai [Ashwin, also retired] isn’t there, and I’ve learned a lot from Ash bhai, and now that he isn’t there, [I’m looking to learn from] whichever senior player is there.”
However, Team India recently played an intra-squad match in Beckenham and Kuldeep expects the pitch to start taking turn as well.
“It seems like there will be good wickets for spinners,” Kuldeep said. “The wicket for the practice match was good for batting. There was some light moisture on the first day, and the seamers got some help, but as the game went on, I felt there was some bounce for the spinners, and while I didn’t get much turn during my first spell on the first day, it’s day three today and I’ll get to know how the wicket is now when I get to bowl, but whatever practice sessions I’ve had so far, the ball has been turning a bit. It’ll be really nice if it remains this way during the [Test] matches too.”
“If the conditions are warm, as they have been over the last three-four days, and if the wickets are like this, spinners can get help. I don’t worry that much about conditions, but yes, it feels good to bowl if you get a slightly helpful wicket,” he further added. “We’ve played a lot of T20 in the last four-five months, so volume is very important, and all the bowlers are instructed to bowl as many overs [in practice as they would in a match]: the fast bowlers will bowl at least 15 to 20 overs so they can build up fully for the Test match, and it’s the same for the spinners – the more they bowl, the better it will be.”
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Following Rohit Sharma’s retirement, India have appointed Shubman Gill as the new Test captain. And, Kuldeep Yadav felt Gill was “fully ready to lead” the side as well.
“Shubman knows how to lead a team. He has worked under the seniors in the last couple of years. In the last one year, you’d have seen him in a lot of discussions with Rohit bhai – not only in Tests but even in ODIs. I’m sure he has learned a lot, but as a leader, from what I have seen so far, he’s very motivated and he’s been playing an active role in lifting the team. I have seen over the last three-four sessions that Shubman has the same qualities that I’ve seen in our previous leadership groups. He’s fully ready to lead us,” Kuldeep Yadav concluded.
