Chinaman bowler Kuldee Yadav, who played a major role in Kolkata Knight Riders' fine run in this edition of IPL 2017, says he relishes bowling under pressure
Kuldeep Yadav
Pune: Delhi Daredevils will have to play out of their skins to try and stop the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) juggernaut when the two sides lock horns in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game at the Eden Gardens today.
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KKR have been in sublime form, winning two back-to-back games in convincing fashion. While the twice IPL champions skittled Royal Challengers Bangalore for the tournament's lowest score of 49 to win, KKR then massacred Rising Pune Supergiant on Wednesday.
Keeping captain's faith
KKRâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088skipper Gautam Gambhir's captaincy has been highly impressive in both these wins. Gambhir has always been an innovative T20 captain. His aggression on the field, be it with his choice of bowlers, field placements, or his body language, is quite obvious.
And so was the move to bowl spinners at the death against Rising Pune Supergiant last Wednesday. Supergiant were comfortably placed at 140 for 2, with Steven Smith and MS Dhoni looking well set at the crease. The Kolkata Knight Riders' skipper responded by bowling Sunil Narine in the 17th, which cost just seven runs. And then came the masterstroke, Kuldeep Yadav coming in to bowl the 18th.
"As a spinner, I believe if you take wickets, that brings the opposition under a lot of pressure. It's obviously tough to bowl the 18th over. You need the captain's belief," Yadav had said after the match. But having the belief is one thing, and delivering in crunch situations another, a far bigger challenge.
Especially when you are bowling against good players of spin like Dhoni and Smith. But Yadav delivered, he did got rid of Dhoni and in-form Manoj Tiwari in the space of four balls. Both were stumped, done in with very well pitched and disguised googlies.
"Obviously it's tough to bowl to Dhoni bhai, there is lot of pressure. I was feeling the pressure, but I wasn't scared of possibly being hit for a six. I flighted the ball. I was looking to get him out, and not trying to run away from him," Yadav said about his plan against the game's best finisher.
Remarkable season
It has been a remarkable season for Yadav, having finished as the leading run-getter and the leading wicket-taker for his Ranji Trophy team Uttar Pradesh. That followed with the expected selection in Duleep Trophy, India 'A' side, before the famous Test debut at Dharamshala against Australia last month.
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