Star spinner Kuldeep Yadav produced a brilliant performance in India’s opening game of the Asia Cup against UAE. It didn’t take captain Suryakumar Yadav to realise that the surface was on the slower side, and he used the spinners heavily in the middle. Part-time pacer Shivam Dube also proved impactful. However, it was Kuldeep who decimated the UAE’s batting unit, picking up four wickets, while conceding only seven runs in 2.1 overs.
Courtesy of his and Dube’s wrath with the ball, India managed to bundle UAE for 57 runs in the first innings. When it came to the chase, Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill played some brilliant cricket and later, Suryakumar kept up with the momentum, as the Men in Blue chased it in just 4.3 overs.
Kuldeep was eventually adjudged the Player of the match for his terrific bowling. Notably, in the ninth over of the match, the left-arm leg-spinner clinched three wickets, which broke UAE’s momentum. Meanwhile, this was Kuldeep’s fifth Player of the Match award in the shortest format of the game. He surpassed the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik, while joining Yuzvendra Chahal for the most POTM awards among Indians.
Kuldeep opens up on return to playing XI
Since the Champions Trophy, Kuldeep has not played any games for the national team. He was expected to play at least a couple of matches in the five-match Test series against England, but he failed to get into the playing XI. Speaking on that, the spinner highlighted that he was training well and working on his spinner.
“Thanks to Adrian, the trainer. Was working on my bowling and my fitness as well, everything is going perfectly. Tried to hit the right length and it matters a lot, reading the batters on what they are trying to do. Even today as well, reacting to what the batters would do on the next ball,” Kuldeep said in the post-match presentation.