Kuldeep Yadav believes in taking wickets in T20s, not restricting batsmen

Kuldeep Yadav, who took 4/26 against for Uttar Pradesh against Bengal in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy meet in Kolkata before leaving for South Africa, stated that he always looks to take wickets instead of restrict batsmen.

A part of the Kolkata Knight Riders for five years, Kuldeep Yadav seemed a lot more at home at Eden Gardens than Bengal.

Kuldeep Yadav claimed 4/26 against for Uttar Pradesh against Bengal in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy meet in Kolkata before leaving for South Africa. (AP)

That he took 4/26 to help Uttar Pradesh beat Bengal by 75 runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here on Monday should bode well for the mystery spinner before he leaves for South Africa for the one-dayers and T20 Internationals.

“It’s been good so far, I have played this tournament and my rhythm is good, so hopefully I will be able to continue bowling well there as well,” said Yadav. That took his tournament tally to seven in six games. Understandable then that Yadav, 23, said the tournament provided him with “good match practice”.

Yadav will leave for home in Kanpur on Tuesday and to South Africa after that.

Yadav said even though T20s are loaded in favour of batsmen, he always looks to take wickets. “You will leak runs in this format. T20 is all about how many wickets you take. Wickets help the team in this format. My style is always to try and take wickets. If I look to restrict runs, I can end up conceding more maybe,” he said.

Talking about playing at Eden, Yadav said he is familiar with the surface and knows the angles he has to bowl.

This has been a lucky ground for me,” he said.