Kedar Jadhav credits his bowling action to MS Dhoni and Anil Kumble
Kedar Jadhav credited the development of his unconventional bowling action to former India captains MS Dhoni and Anil Kumble. Jadhav explained how Dhoni's confidence and Kumble's detailed advice helped him improve his bowling and nurture it over the years.
Speaking candidly on the official Instagram handle of CSK, Kedar Jadhav explained how he was asked to bowl in an ODI against New Zealand, despite not having much experience in the bowling department in the domestic circuit.
He added that after watching the batsmen hit his regular off-spin easily, he decided to tweak his action and do something different. And that is when he opted to bowl the low slinging off-cutters from round the stump to bamboozle the opposition. He tried that delivery in the nets against Amit Mishra and it worked.
"It was in 2016, October or November when I got picked for the NZ home series. MS was captain, he asked me to bowl a few overs. I started bowling off-spinners. People go after part-timers. After bowling a few overs, I got bored that everyone was hitting me."
"I got bored and I tried a round arm. That time Anil bhai was coach, the first ball I bowled was around, Amit Mishra was batting. Mishy thought it's a wide, he left the ball. Bal landed on the stumps and he was plumb in front. Mishy said I was chocking but let it get covered by coaches."
How Anil Kumble helped Kedar Jadhav
Kedar Jadhav explained how former Indian coach Anil Kumble's advice in the nets helped him improve on his off-spin slingers. Kumble advised Jadhav to keep his arm above the shoulder level to keep it legal but to also bowl as low as possible with control.
As a result, international batsmen found it hard to slog Jadhav as he lowered the release point of the ball, keeping it legal, and bowling in line of the stumps while still keeping the batsman guessing.
Kedar Jadhav has a total of 27 wickets in 73 ODIs, with a best of three for 23 runs.
"I asked Anil bhai, he asked me to bowl. On Dharmasala it was keeping low, batsmen were finding it tough to hit. Anil bhai said its' legal, I got confidence. After bowling first over, the first ball I bowled with a round arm, Neesham checked the shot and caught and bowled."
"Credit and confidence Mahi bhai gave me, I hadn't event bowled in domestic cricket. Mahi bhai faith in me saw me joined as a bowler."
