Dubai, Feb 24 (IANS) India spinner Kuldeep Yadav said he was in a better rhythm in the Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan on Sunday as he returned with figures of 3-40 in his nine overs to skittle out opponents for 241.
Kuldeep went wicketless in India’s tournament opener against Bangladesh. However, he found his form back in the mega encounter and bagged two consecutive wickets before completing his third scalp of the match in the death overs.
Kuldeep spent more than a quarter away from the game after undergoing surgery for a sports hernia last year. He returned to the white-ball setup for the England ODIs and just got one scalp each in the two matches he played.
“Injuries take six months to recover. I played two matches against England. I had a good rhythm. I had a good rhythm even against Bangladesh. But obviously, you always look for wickets (he went wicketless against Bangladesh). But today, when I bowled my first over, I felt that I am in a better rhythm. I am in a comfortable position,” Kuldeep said to reporters in the Mixed Zone after the match against Pakistan.
“Even now, I feel that I can bowl better. I have played 3-4 matches. I will get better as I play more,” he added.
Reflecting on getting wickets of Salman Agha (19) and Shaheen Shah Afridi on successive balls in the 43rd over, the spinner said, “The first wicket of Salman was a normal Chinaman. It was slow, but I varied the pace. Obviously, the second wicket was a first-ball swing. I was targeting the wicket. I thought it was a better option to hit the wrong one. So, I have to think about which delivery I can hit. And the incoming deliveries are difficult if it’s a slow track. So, that was my plan.”
Kuldeep further vowed that more game time will bring the best out of him. “To be very honest, in terms of accuracy, I feel that if I play more games, I will be much better. Obviously, when you play a lot of games, you tend to mix your pace,” he said.
“I was able to become the first choice in bowling the last 10 overs. Even the captain felt that it’s very difficult to hit spinners when you have variations. Luckily, it was good for me. The wicket was slow. I was trying to mix with the pace and wrong ones or topspin.
“If you get one or two wickets in the middle, the batsmen tend to block you. That’s what they did in the last 10 overs. Playing Pakistan, there is a lot of pressure from the fans. There are a lot of expectations. I enjoy it,” Kuldeep added.
With the semis berth almost certain, India will look to keep their unbeaten record intact when they take on New Zealand on March 2 to finish on top of Group A.
–IANS
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