Kuldeep Yadav discusses his form and is hopeful of a better 2020
Kuldeep Yadav had a 2019 which was anything but impressive, as he failed to live up to his own and his team's expectations. He was dropped halfway through the IPL season from the Kolkata Knight Riders' playing eleven as it had become easier for the batsmen to pick him.
Even in the 2019 Cricket World Cup where a lot of India's hopes were dependent on his spin and variations, he failed to deceive the batsmen to an extent that he would have liked to. His form was one of the worrying reasons that affected India's World Cup hopes.
"It (2019) was a tough one. I learned a lot of things and the biggest positive was getting to know that I could have planned things better," Kuldeep told reporters on the eve of the third and final T20 against Sri Lanka.
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Kuldeep realized that one of the main reasons for his poor impact was a lack of variations. As it was becoming easier for the batsmen to pick him, his bowling became less threatening and this was one thing that he was determined to change.
"If I thought more and gave more time to myself, I could have performed better. In 2020, I will try to plan every game better and give myself more time...you have to give yourself more time to plan for the next game. I want to be more mentally prepared this year," Kuldeep revealed.
"Now everyone knows how Kuldeep bowls. He is a chinaman, who has wrong-uns, flippers. I have to bring changes in my bowling, which the batsman cannot figure out," he added.
Kuldeep also said that it was important to keep on reading game situations and decide whether to contain the run-scoring or go for wickets.
He had been threatening when he bowled in tandem with fellow wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and is hopeful that both will play together in the third T20I.
"Variations come to life when your length is good. Sometimes there are a lot of variations that work like using the crease, using angle," Kuldeep said.
"So far only one spinner is playing in the last couple of series. I don't know what the support staff thinks but hopefully, we (Kulcha) play the next game (together)," he concluded.