Durban: Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav who took three wickets in the first ODI against South Africa here Thursday to facilitate India’s win credited MS Dhoni for his success. He said that the former skipper eased 50 per cent of his workload by giving useful advice from behind the stumps.
Kuldeep was easily the pick of the India bowlers. He bamboozled the South African batsmen with his craft and removed JP Duminy, David Miller and Chris Morris to star in the win.
“Actually I was confused a bit what I should bowl because it was my maiden game in South Africa. The wind was good and the ball was drifting and I could not make up my mind on what variation to use. So I was asked Mahi bhai (Dhoni) and he told me ‘bowl as you are bowling’. It is good that he keeps advising from behind the wickets, it gets easier,” Kuldeep informed.
“When you have two legends, Virat (Kohli) and Mahi, it is helpful. As a spinner, Mahi bhai does 50 per cent of the job for a spinner, because he reads the batsmen easily. We are youngsters and lack experience. That is why he (Dhoni) tells me how to bowl according to the situation. And the mindset is set by Virat bhai. He always tells us one extra wicket is more important than trying to save 10 runs. If your captain tells you that, then you start believing in yourself,” added Kuldeep during the post-match press conference.
Of late, Kuldeep and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal have become a lethal combination and the former said they complement each other brilliantly.
“Obviously there is a lot of understanding between us. We now have been bowling for five years together. We were together at Mumbai Indians as well. So there is a mutual understanding between us,” Kuldeep stated.
“Even when he (Chahal) bowls first in the match, we talk about the pitch, whether there is turn or drift in the air. The level where we play, communication is very important and thankfully we do communicate well,” Kuldeep added.
Meanwhile South Africa captain Faf du Plessis blamed lack of substantial partnerships as the main reason behind his side’s six-wicket loss to India.
“We didn’t bat well today (Thursday). The most basic thing about ODI cricket is two guys getting together and putting some sort of partnership together. It wasn’t there,” Du Plessis informed. “I thought the Indian spinners bowled well but still we should have been better today against them. We were 60-70 runs short.”
Press Trust of India
