Asia Cup: Kuldeep Yadav ‘Whenever I retire, I will always cherish this five-fer against Pakistan’

Asia Cup 2023 Kuldeep yadav ‘Whenever I retire, I will always cherish this five-fer against Pakistan’: Kuldeep Yadav, a left-arm wristspinner for Team India, has said that when he retires, he will miss his five-wicket haul against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 match on Monday at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

The Men in Blue crushed Pakistan by 228 runs in the Super 4 encounter on Monday, with Kuldeep taking 5/25 in eight overs. On the following day, India resumed their innings at 147/2. India reached 356/2 thanks to centuries from Virat Kohli (122* off 94 deliveries) and KL Rahul (111* off 106) who also had a third-wicket partnership of 233 that was unbroken.

“When you pick up five wickets against a big team, it really boosts your morale. Whenever I retire, I will always cherish this five-fer against Pakistan,” he commented.

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The spinner added that he has been working hard on bringing more aggression in his bowling rhythm, and the same is paying dividends.

“I have been playing regularly for the past one and half years after my knee surgery. My run-up has gone a bit straight. There is more aggression in my bowling rhythm, the approach to the crease is good, and perhaps earlier my bowling hand used to fall a lot, it’s under control now and it is now facing more towards the batsman,” Kuldeep elaborated.

“At the same time, I have not lost my spin and drift, it is still there and my pace has also gone up. That’s why it is helping me. For some time now, I have only been thinking about hitting those good lengths consistently, it gives you more chances of taking wickets,” he explained.

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On Monday, Kuldeep cleaned up Fakhar Zaman for 27 before adding the scalps of Agha Salman, Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Faheem Ashraf.

“Post-surgery was very frustrating for me. I was out for five months. It has not happened overnight. It took me some time to get it right. Many people had suggested it but I also never wanted to lose my zip, dip and drift. After the surgery when I completed my rehab for three months, then I realized that I must work on it,” he said.

“One and a half years have been amazing for me. I have been bowling well. I don’t think too much about the playing XI, I am just enjoying my bowling,” Kuldeep added.

The 28-year-old spinner has an impressive one-day record. In 87 matches, he has claimed 146 wickets at an average of 26.04 and an economy rate of 5.12.

(With Input From SportsKeeda)