‘With England, one cannot relax & play defensive’, Kuldeep Yadav on his attacking mindset

Kuldeep Yadav will be 31 in December. Yet, in a superb international career that has seen him take 306 wickets from 166 matches across all formats, it’s almost staggering to note that only 13 of those caps have come in Tests. Wretched luck with injuries hasn’t helped, and neither did the presence of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja – two of the all-time greats – in the Indian side. But with Ashwin now retired, Kuldeep has an incredible opportunity to nail down a place on the upcoming five-Test tour of England. In this exclusive interview with Boria Majumdar, RevSportz editor-in-chief on the show Ageas Federal Backstage With Boria Kuldeep sets up the England series, while also looking back at the challenges he has overcome.

Speaking on his comeback Kuldeep says, “Yes, definitely feels good to be back in the Indian team, after missing out on the Australia series due to injuries. The Champions Trophy win and IPL journey have been a part of my comeback, but a Test series is a very big deal for any cricketer. And I want this series to get done in a good way. “

He went on to explain how he now tried to read batters and win the contest in the mind. “There is this thing with spinners, which is ‘reading the batsmen’, that comes with time and experience. I personally think I have developed that sense of understanding the batsmen’s next move, especially due to my experience playing T20, where it is essential. And this skill is definitely going to help in red-ball cricket as well to plan my strategy accordingly. It gives a bowler a different sense of confidence when the bowling style can be adjusted with the batsmen’s strength and weakness. So, the challenge here is to decide on the move, because the batsman on the other hand is also trying to predict your movement. But I feel I am in a frame to do that reading better.”

On the changes he has made to his bowling, he said, “Changes in terms of increasing the pace, cutting the angle, reading the batter, working on the length, and giving the batsman a challenging length. And this applies to all the formats.”

Commenting on the England tour he argued, “I am a very mentally relaxed person. I don’t usually tweak my attacking mindset which I have by default, but otherwise I don’t think much or think differently when playing overseas. I have grown up practicing on a cemented wicket and never had access to turf when young. So, I am used to everything. But one thing that is important when playing overseas is the revs (revolutions) – i.e. how much is the ball spinning. The art of a spinner mainly is in the air – if the ball starts dipping and drifting, then it affects the same way, no matter where is one playing. But I enjoy playing all formats on all sorts of wickets, be it India or overseas. Just that I need to understand the conditions, weather et cetera, once there in England and adapt accordingly.”

Finally on using the Dukes balls he said, “When I played in 2018 [at Lord’s] with the Dukes, I personally experienced that Dukes are a bit hard and drifts more. So, as a spinner, if one can control that, then it can be challenging for the batsmen. Because it is hard , it bounces more and the spin is very sharp if one gets a spin-friendly track. It’s a bit like the SG ball and the seam is protruding. Kookaburra, on the other hand, is very different and gives spinners a very good grip due to its rounded nature. I like it personally. But overall, it takes adjustment and time spent with the ball to get used to it.”