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Cricket PlayersIan Bishop goes gaga over Kuldeep Yadav's first fifer in 18 months, making spinner blush: ‘Have to create magic…’
Kuldeep Yadav took five wickets in the first innings of the second Test against the West Indies in New Delhi.
Kuldeep Yadav will forever remain a curious case in Indian cricket. The spinner made his Test debut in 2017 against Australia. Eight years have passed since his maiden Test; however, he has just played 14 long-format matches for India. Time and time again, despite the new management, Kuldeep has found himself out of favour as the team opted for having batting depth. Once touted as the No.1 spinner by Ravi Shastri, Kuldeep continues to boggle the minds of the fans. However, the 30-year-old is controlling the controllables. On Sunday, Kuldeep took yet another five-wicket haul in the first innings of the second Test against the West Indies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Kuldeep dismissed Alick Athanaze, Shai Hope, Tevin Imlach, Justin Greaves and Jayden Seales in the first innings as India bundled out West Indies for 248. After stumps on Day 3, Kuldeep was caught off guard as former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop waxed lyrical about the spinners' exploits.
Bishop asked Kuldeep about the feeling of taking a fifer after a gap of almost 18 months, and this remark forced the player from Uttar Pradesh to blush.
Here is the full exchange between Ian Bishop and Kuldeep Yadav:
Bishop: It's been 18 months since your last five-wicket haul. Not many test matches in between. To pick up your fifth fifer, what were your feelings and sentiments on the achievement?
Kuldeep: I mean, I hardly think about the balls at the moment, you know, whatever ball I get, I just have to bowl, and whatever format I play, just give my best, and yeah, obviously, taking a five-wicket haul after quite a long time was special, and yeah, you have to create magic on the field. That's what I always think about, and it doesn't matter if I play in 18 months or one month. That was very clear to me.
John Campbell and Shai Hope lead Windies' fightback
After being asked to follow on, John Campbell and Shai Hope led the Windies' fightback as the duo put on 138 runs for the third wicket on Day 3 of the second Test. At stumps, the visitors reached the score of 173/2, still trailing by 97 runs.
Mohammed Siraj and Washington Sundar have taken two wickets for India so far. The pacer dismissed Tagenarine Chanderpaul for 10 while Sundar got the better of Athanaze for 7 runs.
In the West Indies' first innings, Kuldeep returned with five wickets while Ravindra Jadeja scalped three with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj taking one each.
