Having been a Knight for five IPL seasons, it fit that Kuldeep Yadav would feel at home enough at Eden Gardens to try a new delivery. The Man of the Match on Sunday said his knowledge of the wicket where the ball grips and doesn’t turn much helped him to a haul of 3/13.
“It is a massive, massive advantage when you have played a lot of matches at a venue. You know the wicket, the outfield and even the angles. That gives you a lot of confidence. I know for instance that if you vary your pace on this surface you will get your reward,” said Kuldeep.
Bowling a faster one, something he tried on the night, has been a work in progress since his under-19 days, said the chinaman. “I am working on it because it can help break the rhythm of a batsman, it can make the batsman pause. I have been trying it in practice and it is only in the last couple of series that I have had the confidence to try it in games,” he said.
On a night when the West Indies bowled well — “you know the ball swings here late in the second innings and they bowled well, pitching it in perfect areas,” — Kuldeep said Dinesh Karthik’s unbeaten 31 was invaluable to India’s cause. Karthik, Kuldeep’s skipper in the IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders, too benefited from familiarity with the conditions, said the bowler. “But a small score can be tricky and he needed to control himself while wickets kept falling at the other end,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}On a night when the West Indies bowled well — “you know the ball swings here late in the second innings and they bowled well, pitching it in perfect areas,” — Kuldeep said Dinesh Karthik’s unbeaten 31 was invaluable to India’s cause. Karthik, Kuldeep’s skipper in the IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders, too benefited from familiarity with the conditions, said the bowler. “But a small score can be tricky and he needed to control himself while wickets kept falling at the other end,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Asked what he told debutant Krunal Pandya during a spin partnership that stymied whatever hopes West Indies may have had of a revival, Kuldeep said: “He came on in the seventh over and I in the eighth. The only chat we had was that the wicket was not offering turn but the ball was gripping. Since wickets kept falling, we didn’t’ really need to talk more,” he said.
West Indies’ debutant Fabian Allen said a score of 150 would have made the game competitive. “We were too aggressive; I think we could easily have got 150 or 140, that was the target. I hope we learn from this and take it to our next game,” he said. Asked whether they missed Andre Russell, a late drop out due to injury, he said: “Of course, he is a crucial player in the team, a leader.”