|| India Correspondent ||
Young team India spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been out of action for quite sometimes now. However, he recently opened up about the disappointment of not playing a lot of IPL games for Kolkata Knight Riders over the last two editions, citing that he felt he was in a pretty good form as well.
Kuldeep has played only five matches in the last edition of IPL, and nine games in 2019 IPL with the economies of 7.66 and 8.66 respectively. In 14 matches in total, he had claimed only five wickets.
"Personally I felt the 2020 IPL did not got well for me. I should have played more matches. I felt I was in pretty good rhythm, I was bowling well, but just that I did not get many overs. So, perhaps, if I got more opportunities then it would have been good. I am not saying that was the lowest, to be honest," he said to ESPNcricinfo.
"Even in 2019 I did not have a good IPL. Until you fail, you can't handle the pressure. Now I feel I understand things better - I have seen failure in my life now, so even if I don't perform, it will not be new. In cricket you can't perform at all times, but if you carry on doing the hard work, you create better chances to become successful," he again shared.
Meanwhile, he was with the Team India squad in their tour of Australia but he didn't get the chance to play where India won the four-match Test series 2-1 despite the visitors suffered plenty of injuries.
However, the spinner has also revealed that he has been working on his bowling speed at the time too.
"I have had a lot of discussions with Arun sir and we have worked on that aspect a lot. At the time my pace was slow, around 77kph. The fastest I would get to would be 80kph at times. In the Australia tour in the nets I was getting a nice pace, close to 84-85kph, with good revolutions on the ball. That will help me on slower pitches," he told.
Kuldeep Yadav also shared that he had spoken to Nathan Lyon and R Ashwin about his bowling as well.
"I did speak quite a lot to Nathan Lyon. I asked him about his routines. He told me he maintains simple drills, what his skills are, how he runs the fingers over the ball while spinning, which is his strength. He asked me to follow my routines, find the spot where I should be pitching and enjoy my bowling with a smile," he further shared.
However, the spinner has been named in India's squad for the first two Tests against England, starting from February 5 in Chennai.