Abhishek Nayar reveals what changes Kuldeep Yadav made to his bowling to savor success in Asia Cup

Former Indian batting coach Abhishek Nayar has revealed that Kuldeep Yadav made subtle changes to his bowling technique to reap rewards at the top level. Yadav has been bowling at his best in the ongoing Asia Cup, picking seven wickets in two matches of the tournament at an average of 3.57 and an economy rate of 4.05.

Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the bowlers, returning with figures of 3-18 in his quota of four overs against Pakistan. The wrist spinner dismissed Sahibzada Farhaz, Mohammad Nawaz, and Hasan Nawaz in his fine spell and thus bagged the Player of the Match award.

Furthermore, Yadav had also returned with impressive figures of 4-7 in 2.1 overs he bowled against UAE and had won the Player of the Match award.

Nayar revealed Kuldeep practised on sand and also made changes to his run-up.

Abhishek Nayar said on Sony Sports, “Maine baat cheet ki thi unse ki kya kiya tha unhone. Woh kaafi interesting hai kyunki woh ret pe gendbaazi karte they jahan pe pitch banaya nahin hai, taaki vahan pe gend jo ruk ke aati hai, vahan tez daalenge toh unko aur bite milega. Toh woh ek cheez tha. Thodi run-up mein change ki, jo angle se bhaag rahe they use thoda seedha kiya. Aur woh zyaada jump kar rahe they, woh thoda sa kam kiya jisse woh momentum transfer kar paa rahe they. Toh yeh thode se changes ki, kaafi mehnat ki unhone, kyunki kathin samay tha unke liye.”

(I spoke to him. It’s very interesting, he used to bowl on sand where the ball stops. He bowled with speed to gain more bite. That is one thing. He also changed his run-up, the angle with which he ran he made it straight. Also, he jumped a bit too much before which has changed, allowing him to transfer a lot more momentum. Kuldeep has worked a lot on his bowling and was going through a difficult time.)

“Aur kaafi log kaafi kuch keh rahe they. But you always have a coach, jo aapko bachpan se jaanta hai. Toh unki sahaayta leke kaafi mehnat ki. Aur jo nazar aa raha hai woh unki poori mehnat hai.”

(A lot of people were saying plenty of things. But when you have a coach, who you know from the beginning, it is easier. He helped Kuldeep and whatever you are seeing is the result of his hard work.)

India will next take on Oman at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Friday.