India’s left-arm chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been going through a tough phase since IPL 2020. He was dropped mid-way in the tournament following a poor show with the ball for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
He was then relegated to the bench during India’s tour of Australia, playing just one ODI and most of the home series against England. He played one Test match against England in Chennai and was then benched for the entire five-T20I matches against England, however, he got to play two ODIs against the same side.
But he once again struggled to make an impact, going wicketless and conceding 152 runs across the two games. Yadav admitted that rust was an issue with his performances, but that he is also "not at all worried" about what the future holds.
IND v ENG 2021: "Kuldeep Yadav hasn't improved; he's stayed same," says Michael Vaughan
"If you're playing regularly, you get an idea about the length and can quickly identify what length to bowl. But when you're playing with breaks, the length may sometimes be a little up or short. If I work hard on my lengths, it will help me bowl better,” Kuldeep told Mid-day.
“The first game was very important as I was playing after a long time. I didn't get into a good rhythm in that match. Had I been playing regularly, the rhythm would not have been an issue. I made a good comeback after the first over [conceding 13 runs].
In the second game, I bowled better. It's just that there was no assistance for spin on the pitch, so I didn't get the desired results. On flat pitches, length is crucial. It was difficult for spinners in the ODIs, all went for runs,” he further said.
There were talks about batsmen having figured Kuldeep Yadav out due to lack of variety in his bowling and bowling too slow in the air. However, the left-arm chinaman rubbished such talks.
"I don't pay attention to all this talk. It's important that I keep improving my skills and be as accurate as possible. If you're playing regularly, batsmen tend to read you. If they are getting comfortable playing me, then my job as a bowler is to keep improving. And that's why I look to add or change a few things every time,” Kuldeep said.
"Despite all the analysis, batsmen still find ways to score runs, and bowlers still find different methods to take wickets. My job is to be ready whenever the opportunity arises. The team management has always communicated to me the reason why I wasn't getting a place in the XI.
They have always backed me and I am not at all worried. I keep working hard in training sessions and do whatever the team needs,” he added.
(Mid-day inputs)
