The Indian Premier League (IPL) has resurrected the careers of many cricketers. Many players have got their form back while playing IPL and made it back to their respective national teams while many youngsters got noticed due to their exploits in the cash-rich T20 league.
Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who is out of the India white-ball squad for the last couple of years, staked his claim for a re-look at him after a three-wicket haul that helped his team Delhi Capitals defeat Mumbai Indians by four wickets on Sunday.
With Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma and opener Ishan Kishan going great guns, Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant turned to Kuldeep to make the breakthrough and the 27-year-old spinner from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh responded splendidly by claiming 3/18 in his four overs that put the brakes on the Mumbai Indians innings.
He claimed crucial wickets of India skipper Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard, both of whom could have destroyed the Delhi Capitals bowling attack if they had stayed at the wicket for a longer period.
And Kuldeep was happy with his performance and said adhering to the right line and length was the reason behind his success on a Brabourne Stadium pitch that did not have much to offer to the spinners,
Kuldeep said before the IPL he had discussed with Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting what line and length he should bowl and he stuck to it on Sunday.
"Before the start of the IPL, I had discussions with Ricky Ponting on what line and length I should bowl and I did just that today," Kuldeep told the official broadcaster during the mid-innings break.
He also varied his pace which helped him keep the batters guessing. "I was controlling my pace, increasing when I wanted to and slowing it down when necessary. This is what I have worked on in the last few months," said Kuldeep.
Asked which of the three wickets he claimed on Sunday was the most satisfactory, Kuldeep said he loved taking the wicket of Rohit Sharma and Pollard.
"The wickets of Rohit and Pollard were crucial and more satisfactory to take as both were looking dangerous when they got out. Rohit bhai was going strong and if Pollard had stayed till the end, he could have added a lot more runs to their total," said Kuldeep.
He said though the pitch was not giving much assistance to the spinners, sticking to line and length was the key for success on it. "There was no support for spinners in the pitch, it was quite good for batting. But if you stuck to your line and length, you can get wickets on such pitches," he said.
The early success would have given Kuldeep a big boost and he would now be looking forward to continuing in the same vein. If he manages that, Yadav would present a serious case for his return back to the white-ball team, especially with the T20 World Cup scheduled later this year.
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