After undergoing knee surgery in 2021, Kuldeep Yadav disclosed that to bowl even four overs in a Twenty20 match, he had to drastically alter his bowling motion and put in double effort to improve his strength and conditioning.
In an interview with The Indian Express, Kuldeep disclosed that following his operation, Ashish Kaushik, the chief physiotherapist at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, informed him that his career would be impacted because his front foot was carrying an excessive amount of weight due to an outdated motion.
After initially not giving it much thought, the left-arm wrist spinner decided to improve on it, returning home to Kanpur and putting in the overs. The new action was quicker, and Kuldeep was no longer walking to the crease, which took a toll, too.
“Initially, there were several problems. To flip your old action is very difficult. It took about a month and a half to get the rhythm. It would be there one day and not there the next. It took me 6 months to get the rhythm. I needed so much energy to bowl with the altered action; I couldn’t bowl more than 4 to 5 overs. The run-up was fast, and my approach was aggressive. Even 4 overs in T20 were difficult," Kuldeep told the Indian Express.
Even though captain Rohit Sharma was constantly concerned about his fitness during games, Sohum Desai, Team India's former strength and conditioning coach, was instrumental in helping him match it with his action.
“Soham Desai prepared me so that I started retaining my energy – I could give maximum effort for at least 6 overs," he says. “You must have heard a lot of times in the match, Rohit bhai would keep asking me – Thak raha hai kya (Hope you are not tired)? Now, luckily, I have started putting in long spells of 8-9 overs. I have also put in 10-12 overs in Tests. It took me 3 years to get that energy to bowl a long spell," Kuldeep said.
Kuldeep Yadav is part of the Indian Test squad in England for the ongoing series. It is expected that the spinner will be included in India’s playing XI for the second Test at Edgbaston after the visitors lost the first Test at Headingly.
