Kuldeep Yadav has made significant improvements in his line and length. He does not give the batsman the freedom to play strokes anywhere on his deliveries. Better yet, he is reading the batsman very well. His return to form is not good news for batsmen.
This is what Kuldeep Yadav’s coach Kapil Pandey has to say. Kuldeep has raised hopes for Team India by taking five wickets against Pakistan and four against SL in the Asia Cup. Now playing sweep and reverse sweep on Kuldeep is also not free from danger. Agha Salman, Aslanka and Pathirana were out in a similar way in front of him. Kapil Pandey, Kuldeep Yadav’s coach, said that he is now able to read batsmen very closely. His gained speed in his bowling. Most of his deliveries are around good length. He always tries to force batsmen to play in front. Left-handed batsmen looked quite troubled especially in WI. Left-handed batsmen used to sweep a lot against him earlier. They worked on that a lot. This time in the Asia Cup, Shadab or Samarawickrama were out playing big shots on him. Kapil Pandey says that Kuldeep used to focus more on chinaman balls earlier. He used to bowl googlies less. But now he bowls googlies more. The batsman does not know whether the ball is coming in or out. Now he hardly delivers short ball. In response to the question of how he got Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan out with the flighted deliveries, he said that he explained to Kuldeep that if the ball is drifted with flight in the air, it will be difficult for the batsman. Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan used to do this a lot.
When asked, now a days whether LBW or bowled are the most common dismissals for Kuldeep, he said that now he bowls more freely. The captain’s trust him more. His bowling has also matured. He said that when the batsman plays a big shot, Kuldeep bowls a chinaman or a googly. Otherwise, flipper and top spin are also his other weapons. Now, even batsmen find it difficult to read his pace. His hand, leg, and body coordination is quite good. Kapil Pandey says that whether it is the Asia Cup or the World Cup, everyone’s eyes are on the Indian spin trio. Jadeja can take advantage of the attack from one end, while Kuldeep can do so from the other end. The absence of an off-spinner has increased their workload. I believe that with their mature bowling, they will definitely be able to compensate for the lack of an off-spinner. He said, the utility of an off-spinner is still there for every team. Bhajji and Muralitharan have also proved to be big game-changers. Kapil Pandey also says that in the IPL, whoever hit sixes on him, Kuldeep got them stumped out as well. I tried to instill in him the confidence that he can do such wonders in international matches as well. The rest of the team combination is the most important.
The importance of a team winning is more than the presence or absence of any one player. Consider every match as the last match. The bowler should become a batsman according to the need of the day during batting. I am happy that Kuldeep Yadav is getting support from the senior members of the team.