Difficult to switch from white-ball to red-ball cricket, admits Kuldeep Yadav

India had a forgettable tour of England earlier last year amidst an away season that was fairly decent in South Africa and Australia. India had started well in England after a 2-1 win in the T20I series but soon went on to lose the ODI series by an identical margin. However, the main test for them was in the longest version.

India had made an encouraging start to the first Test before eventually losing by a meagre 31 runs before they travelled to Lord’s for the second Test. And an in-form Kuldeep Yadav was given the chance to shine again. Prior to that, the chinaman bowler had shown sparks of brilliance with the red ball that included a four-for against Sri Lanka away from home apart from his impressive Australian debut.

However, everything didn’t go as planned and Kuldeep ended up conceding 44 runs in nine overs, which included only one maiden. And the wrist spinner opened up about what he experienced and he did he overcome in an interview with ESPNCricinfo.

“… it's very difficult to switch from white-ball cricket to red-ball cricket. If you keep playing red-ball cricket, it's easy to adjust as a spinner, but I'm regularly playing with the white ball, so when I got the chance [at Lord's], I wasn't prepared enough to tackle everything. For me, red-ball cricket is the biggest challenge. Everyone loves Test cricket and I'm no different,” he said.

“It's difficult when you're playing abroad. At Lord's, I can't say the conditions weren't up to the mark, but it was difficult. I wasn't used to bowling with the Dukes ball, so when I returned, I worked really hard with my coach [Kapil Pandey]. I discussed what I'd done there, and from then, I started thinking about Test cricket. That has been the one thing in my mind since then,” he added.

Kuldeep was sent back home as his requirement in the series looked unnecessary and he also had to prepare for the Australia A team before India visited the Kangaroos next.

“I had time to go back to Kanpur and work with my coach. The Rovers Club, where I have practised since childhood, gives me positive vibes. It is where I am myself, with a lot of freedom to just do my thing quietly without having so many cameras trying to pick what you are trying. It took me seven days to actually get over my Lord's performance and bounce back.

"I was in England for one more game after the Lord's Test… I made plans, which I executed in the unofficial Tests against Australia A. In the first game I went okay, I was bowling too full, but in the second game, I got a five-for. That settled me down,” said Kuldeep.