India vs Australia | Focused on sticking to basics, asserts Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav, who has been instrumental for India in the ongoing Sydney Test, revealed that he intends to stick to the basics rather than focus on the ‘mystery’ aspect of his bowling. Yadav was involved in his first match of the four-match series at the SCG and picked up three wickets on day three.
India reduced the Australians to 236/6 at the end of day’s play on the third day of the Sydney Test which had to end early due to bad light. The Australians started the day in good stead but the Indian bowlers were relentless in their pursuit of wickets and fought back towards the latter stages of Saturday. Kuldeep Yadav, who was drafted into the team for the first time in the ongoing series, was particularly impressive for the visitors as he bagged three wickets in the Australian first innings at the SCG. Yadav was adamant that he does not intend to experiment too much with his technique and wants to stick to the basics.
"For any spinner, it's important to stick to the basics. Deceiving the batsmen and hitting the right areas is important, as far as I am concerned. I don't believe in mystery. If you're good enough to deceive the batsman in the air, that's more than enough for me. I am looking forward to
Injury to Ravichandran Ashwin meant that Yadav got his chance as India opted to go with two spinners at the Sydney Cricket Ground, which is one of Australia's most spinner-friendly venues. Yadav revealed that kept himself busy and motivated during the first three Tests by learning from senior India spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
"When you have got two of the best spinners - R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja - you get a lot of motivation from them only. They are the ones who keep pushing me during the nets. They tell me that I have to bowl in certain areas. It's very important to learn from them, they have played a lot of cricket," Kuldeep added.
Kuldeep, who has just played five Tests for India, revealed that he didn't have to change a lot to adjust to the conditions in Australia. However, the 24-
"To be very honest, I didn't change anything [to adapt to the wickets that offer extra bounce]. Obviously, I was a bit nervous since this was my first Test match of the series. Wickets don't make a lot of difference to me - be it a turner or a flat one. The third day of a match is the best day to bowl. I got a good opportunity. I wanted to hit the right areas the right lines. I have a lot of variations, so I need to bowl the right lines.
"I was just bowling with the normal field. I was planning to bowl wrong'un. I knew that he was going to come after me, maybe hit through mid-wicket or mid-on. So I was very lucky that wrong'
