Kuldeep Yadav has impressed many with his resurgence© AFP
Struggling to break into the Indian team about a year ago, Kuldeep Yadav has returned to the fold as a reliable spinner once again. The left-armer, who once formed a formidable partnership with Yuzvendra Chahal, went through a poor period of form in the Indian team but is looking like his old self again. Be it on the national circuit or in the Indian Premier League, Kuldeep seemed to be losing his touch but then former BCCI selector Sunil Joshi decided to work with the left-arm spinner and make some important tweaks in his bowling.
In an interview with the Indian Express, Joshi explained how Kuldeep was left alone when he was dropped from the Indian team. Joshi took the onus upon himself to work on Kuldeep’s bowling.
“I was part of the selection committee when Kuldeep Yadav got dropped. Who came to the rescue? None of the coaching staff, I was the one who got his delivery stride shorter, front arm better, arm speed better, got him to rip more revolutions on the ball,” Joshi said.
Joshi even revealed that Ravi Shastri asked him what exactly he did with Kuldeep to help him improve. Joshi, a former spinner himself, revealed that he did exactly what a bowling coach should’ve done.
“Suddenly, everybody is talking about Kuldeep Yadav. Ravi Shastri asked Sunil, what have you done with Kuldeep? I said, ‘Ravi bhai I have not done anything special. These are the simple things that a bowling coach should be doing’. If you look at Kuldeep 2.0, his front arm is nice toward the target, his bowling arm is towards the target, he is running towards the target. Shorter stride, there is a free follow through, he has got quicker through the air. You look at the way he is bowling now,” Joshi further explained.
Kuldeep, with his improved performances, has made a strong case for himself for ODI World Cup selection.
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