Shane Warne helped me become better and mentally stronger with his tips, reveals Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep has always been open about how much he has learnt by Shane Warne in action at his prime and his bowling action, especially the top-arm googly, has been inspired by the legend. Luckily for him, he got to meet his idol during on so many occasions with the latter being the commentator in most matches. The wrist-spinner revealed that the regular conversation with the spin legend has helped him become mentally stronger.

“I watched him bowl in the 2005 Ashes series and from that day I wanted to become a bowler like him. He became my idol. I met him for the first time when we played a Test match against Australia. We spoke about a lot of things and when I went to Australia and he helped me with a lot of tips. Ravi (Shastri) sir and Bharat Arun sir helped me understand what Warne was trying to convey to me. Every morning he came up with new ideas and helped me become stronger mentally and in terms of cricket skills. He is very close to me now and we chat on WhatsApp regularly,” Kuldeep said told Hindustan Times.

When Kuldeep Yadav came to Kolkata after a match-less stint with Mumbai Indians, he was surrounded by the likes of Brad Hogg, Piyush Chawla and Sunil Narine, with opportunities being very hard to come by. However, once Hogg retired, Yadav became one of the prime members of the side, which he believes wouldn’t have been possible without the support of KKR’s two-time-winning captain Gautam Gambhir.

“It has been 6 years now that I have been with Kolkata Knight Riders and they are like family to me. Everyone supports each other in the bunch. When I joined, Gautam Gambhir was the captain and Jacques Kallis was a senior player and continues to be our coach and I learnt a lot from them. Gauti bhai always motivated and supported me and always pushed me to reach the next level. I am a senior pro now and doing my job to help the team reach its goals and help them lift this beautiful trophy,” Kuldeep said.