IND v WI | Windies hat-trick is at top of my list of performances, says Kuldeep Yadav

IND v WI | Windies hat-trick is at top of my list of performances, says Kuldeep Yadav

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Kuldeep Yadav has rated his hat-trick against the West Indies at Visakhapatnam as one of the best bowling performance of his career. The Indian dismissed Shai Hope, Jason Holder, and Alzarri Joseph of successive deliveries to be the first Indian to record two international hat-tricks.

After a dip in form had led to his exclusion from the Indian side for four months, Kuldeep has been working hard on the sidelines. When he came back into the side in the T20 leg of the series against West Indies, the 25-year-old was admittedly nervous. Yesterday, however, he delivered the goods with a spell of three for 52 as India levelled the three-match series 1-1.

"The T20 against West Indies in Mumbai was my first match for India in four months. I was a bit nervous as there was a bit of gap and I hadn't played international cricket during that phase. Performance-wise, this hat-trick will be at the top of the list because pressure was on me and it was a result of 4-5 months of hard work," Kuldeep told PTI.

"The last 10 months were very tough for me. After consistent performances, there comes a phase when wickets don't come by and you start thinking more about your bowling. After the World Cup, I was dropped from the team, then I worked really hard for four months," he said.

During the four months away from the game, Kuldeep revealed that he had been working on planning and adding dimensions to his existing variations with the Indian coaches.

"I have worked on my variation, pace and accuracy, which is why the pace that I have bowled in the last two ODIs had been great. The way I used my variations, I am very happy. I think it is not about new variations but more about varying pace according to nature of the track. In India, the tracks are on the slower side and you need to mix it up – sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Worked with Bharat Arun Sir and Ravi (Shastri) sir, both motivated me," he said.

When asked what was going through his mind before the hat-trick ball to West Indies’ No.9, Kuldeep said that he was confused whether to bowl a wrong 'un or a conventional chinaman.

"I was a bit confused about which one to bowl – the wrong 'un or the chinaman. I thought wrong 'un is the best option and I put a second slip there. I was thinking to bowl the off-middle line and if he misses then I will get the wicket. That was the plan," Kuldeep added.

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