It isn’t often that a 22-year- old Test debutant walks in for a press conference and owns the place with his cheekiness. But with four wickets on the opening day of the final Test against Australia, Kuldeep Yadav wasn’t going to let the chance to cock a snook at the visitors go waste, in line with the tone of the series.
“If you see my first wicket, it was not a chinaman but a flipper, which I learnt from Shane Warne. To learn something from him and use it to bowl his own batsmen is obviously a very good feeling,” Kuldeep said with the slightest of smiles that led to an explosion of laughter and several quizzical faces from the Australian media.
It was in response to what tips he had received from the legendary Australian during the Pune Test and not the only one where he was clearly enjoying himself.
Asked about Steve Smith’s doughty innings, Kuldeep wasn’t perturbed.
“I did not find anything difficult or special, but then he was not playing any shots against me. But I have always believed that a good spinner will always go for runs but also take wickets,” he said.
When informed about Matthew Wade’s statement that it had been difficult to read him, Yadav commented, “Good if he said that, it means they are finding it difficult to play!”
Having led India off the field at the end of the Australian innings, Yadav was all praise for Virat Kohli, who kept speaking to him from the sidelines. Kohli even walked in with the drinks, clearly unable to stay out of the action.
‘Kohli the motivator’
“He reminded me of our plans and how to go about it. There cannot be anything better for a player than your captain motivating you so much even when he is not playing,” Kuldeep said.
It may be his first Test but the youngster backs himself to make sure it won’t be his last. “I have a lot of confidence in my skills and variations even when I get hit for runs. I always believe that a good spinner will go for runs but also take wickets and with both Kohli and Anil bhai (Kumble) encouraging me, I am happy we stuck to the plan,” he said.
