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[Saba Sports News] Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav reflected on his conversations with fellow spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and the support he received during a challenging phase of his career. Kuldeep, 29, recently showcased his skills in the T20I format with a five-wicket haul in the final match against South Africa on December 14, contributing to India’s series-tying 106-run victory.
In a BCCI video, Kuldeep, in a discussion with stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav, mentioned Chahal’s advice not to alter his bowling approach significantly. He appreciated Chahal’s consistent support over the past 2-3 years. Kuldeep also shared his strategy behind the five-wicket achievement, focusing on bowling to a specific length and mixing flighted deliveries with quicker ones.
“Chahal bhai had a long flight so we didn’t speak much. Just met him last evening where he told me not to change too much about bowling. Even when things weren’t great 2-3 years ago, he was always there for me. Hopefully, we will try to do well if we play together in ODIs,” Kuldeep replied. “Wasn’t thinking much. The idea was to bowl to a particular length and then I observed that the pitch is slow and the quicker ones were gripping a bit. So I was just mixing my flighted deliveries with quicker ones. I did get a few lucky wickets as the ball was keeping low. Once I got three wickets, I thought let’s go for picking five wicket.”
Suryakumar then talked about his mindset during his impressive ton in the same match, equating Rohit Sharma’s record for the most T20I hundreds, achieved in just 57 innings. He emphasized his focus on enjoying batting and contributing to the team, expressing gratitude for matching Rohit’s record and for all his achievements.
Whenever I walk out to bat, I don’t think about the amount of runs I have to score. I just want to go out there and enjoy my batting. I like to sprint out to the middle and get ready to face the first ball. It was good to get the Player of the Match and Player of the Series award by coming out of my comfort zone overseas. All the success reached God, God is great.
“I just tried to see what I can offer to the team in those conditions. Even during the timeout, Rahul and Vikram Bhai came and told me to bat as deep as possible, so that’s what I tried. It’s a good thing to get level with Rohit Bhai, just grateful for everything.”