India’s spinner Kuldeep Yadav has so far picked up seven wickets in just two matches in the Asia Cup. However, on the England tour, he was benched for all five Test matches. Ahead of the game against Oman, Kuldeep reacted on the same. Here’s what he said:
India spinner Kuldeep Yadav has kept the batters on the tenterhooks in the ongoing Asia Cup, accounting for seven wickets in two matches so far. In both matches, he won the player of the match award as well. However, not long ago, on the England tour, the left-arm wrist spinner was benched for all five Test matches despite several calls to get picked. Kuldeep has reacted to the matter, stating that the tour was challenging but also credited ‘clear communication’ from the head coach Gautam Gambhir.
The 30-year-old admitted that even he felt that he should’ve played at least three to four matches on the tour. However, with communication being clear, Kuldeep made it clear that he couldn’t play as India wanted batting depth. India went with all-rounders like Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar ahead of Kuldeep in almost every Test on the England tour.
“Sometimes, in 3-4 matches, I felt that I could play, but unfortunately, I couldn’t play because they wanted batting depth. The communication was very clear. I feel that that is a very important thing. Gauti’s was very straightforward. Sometimes, I felt that I could play, but as you know, because of the batting depth, I couldn’t. But it was nothing about skill or batting. I couldn’t make a place because of the conditions or the combination,” Kuldeep said ahead of the Asia Cup clash against Oman.
Kuldeep Yadav opens up on challenges of not playing regularly
Interestingly, despite being in the Indian team, Kuldeep Yadav turned up in the Asia Cup for the first time since the Champions Trophy in March. He opened up on challenges a cricketer faces by not playing regularly and how he used the time on the sidelines to improve himself. “Challenges are there because when you play your first game after a while, your rhythm is very important. If you play regular games, your rhythm is set.
“You have an idea of bowling or you have an idea of spending time in the field, how you are reacting on the field. It was a very good time for me to work on myself, to improve my fitness and to give more volume to bowling because it is very important. I learned a lot.
“As a player, you learn a lot when you don’t play. When the team reacts to situations, you can judge from the outside. You have a lot of ideas about what you would do, how you’d react if you were in this situation. I got a lot of ideas from there,” Kuldeep added.
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