India vs South Africa | MS Dhoni does 50 percent of job for spinners, says Kuldeep Yadav

Despite the Durban pitch being semi-friendly towards spinners with the players hardly getting any purchase, India’s wrist spinners did brilliantly to scalp most of the important South African wickets on Thursday. Kuldeep was the toughest of the lot for the South African batsmen to pick, as the likes of JP Duminy, David Miller, and Chris Morris were all seen returning to the pavilion trying to deal with his variations. Yadav lofted his deliveries initially to draw batsmen forward before outwitting them with his googlies.

The way Virat bhai talks, he always tells us one extra wicket is more important than trying to save 10 runs

Kuldeep Yadav, on Virat Kohli's captaincy style while fielding

The left-armed leg-spinner ended his innings at 3/34 and pretty much paralyzed the Proteas’ strong spine, which was the main reason that the hosts didn’t go past 270 despite Faf du Plessis’ brilliant century. However, Yadav credited most of his success to MS Dhoni standing behind the wicket and his continuous tips. 

“When you have two legends, Virat (Kohli) and Mahi, one is leading the team and the other has led the team, it is helpful. As a spinner, Mahi bhai does 50 percent of your work because he has played so much cricket, he reads the batsmen easily,” he said at the post-match press conference, as quoted by PTI.

“I am playing in South Africa for the first time and it was a new experience for me. The wind was good and the ball was drifting. So, I was confused what to bowl, and which variation to use. So I was asking Mahi bhai (Dhoni) and he told me ‘bowl as you are bowling’. It is good that he keeps advising from behind the wickets, it gets easier.”

Kuldeep has often been expensive in ODIs and T20Is, but the wrist spinner has never stopped playing to his strengths and settle for the run-checking tactics. And the youngster credited Virat Kohli’s fearless approach to the game as the reason for the same.

“The mindset comes from the captain. The way Virat bhai talks, he always tells us one extra wicket is more important than trying to save 10 runs. If your captain tells you that, then you start believing yourself. We then back our strengths,” said Yadav.