“Rohit Sharma spoke to me…”: Kuldeep Yadav on captain’s role in improving his batting

Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav said captain Rohit Sharma helped him improve his batting skills during the five-match Test series against England at home from January to March this year. Kuldeep was speaking at a press event in Delhi ahead of his franchise’s Indian Premier League (IPL) Delhi Capitals (DC) game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium. In India’s 4-1 triumph over England at home, Kuldeep had a very valuable role to play, not just with the expected ball but surprisingly also with the bat. Not only did he take 19 wickets in four games, including a five-wicket haul, but he also scored 97 runs in six innings at an average of 19.40, with a best score of 30. He often found himself in situations that could do or break the match for India. With a solid defense, he would keep his edge steady and allow the other batsman to attack in search of the match defense total or a winning target.

Furthermore, during his team’s IPL game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens on May 29, Kuldeep scored a valuable 35* off 26 balls with five fours and a six, taking his team to a respectable total of 153/ 9. Although DC lost the game, Kuldeep was his team’s top scorer and added another feather to his growing reputation as a capable batsman.

Speaking at the event, Kuldeep said that Rohit doesn’t talk to him much about his bowling because he is doing his job. However, Rohit was worried about his batting and helped him improve by talking about the nuances of discipline while in the nets.

“Rohit bhai doesn’t talk to me much about bowling because I’m doing what he wants from me with the ball,” Kuldeep said. “He was worried about my batting. He told me to improve my batting. I worked on it during the Test series against England [at home earlier this year] and he was impressed with my hard work. He used to be with me in the nets and talk to me about the nuances of batting. This helped me a lot and now I am enjoying both batting and bowling,” said Kuldeep.

Coming to the IPL, DC will face RR at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday. Delhi (10 points) is in sixth place this season, with five wins and six losses. RR is in second place, with eight wins and two defeats, totaling 16 points. DC lost their previous match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets while RR lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

Delhi Capitals Squad:Prithvi Shaw, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Rasikh Dar Salam, Lizaad Williams, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Sumit Kumar, Praveen Dubey, Kumar Kushagra, Ricky Bhui, Ishant Sharma, David Warner, Gulbadin Naib, Jhye Richardson, Anrich Nortje, Lalit Yadav, Yash Dhull, Vicky Ostwal, Swastik Chikara

Royal Rajasthan Squadron:Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Jos Buttler, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shubham Dubey, Navdeep Saini, Tanush Kotian, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Kuldeep Sen, Donovan Ferreira, Abid Mushtaq, Kunal Singh Rathore.