IND vs BAN 1st Test: India's left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav made a comeback to Test cricket after being out of action for 21 months. Yadav, who once used to be a crucial artillery in India's spin department seemed pretty off-colour in recent years. He was not picked in the Indian team on regular basis and also lost his former IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders' confidence. But the spinner is making giant strides into the team and is delivering performances in the recent outings.
Yadav registered his best figures in an innings in Test cricket when he scalped 5 wickets against Bangladesh and gave 40 runs in the first innings of the opening Test match between India and Bangladesh in Chattogram. The 28-year-old, who underwent surgery to his knee in September 2021 has spilt the beans about how he has tweaked his bowling action post-surgery.
When being quizzed by India's bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, Kuldeep reflected on his Test cricket comeback and answered what changes he made to his bowling. "When I returned after surgery, I realised that I need to increase my pace a bit. When we were playing T20s in Sri Lanka, I had a conversation with you and you advised that I need to work on my rhythm," Yadav stated.
As seen in the match against Bangladesh, Yadav tweaked his movement after releasing the bowl and gives extra power from his body at the releasing time. On his action, "Due to working on my rhythm, there is more effort being put on my bowling and I am getting good turn and bounce too. Also, the batters are not getting time due to this. I have worked on these things in recent years," he added.
The 28-year-old also stated that he has also worked on his batting. Yadav also scored 40 runs in the first innings and partnered with Ashwin to help India post 404 runs in the first innings. After posting a big total in the first innings, India bowled Bangladesh out for 150. The Men in Blue did not give the follow-on and scored 258/2 in the second innings, setting a hue 513 run target ahead of Bangladesh.
At the end of the second session on Day 4, Bangladesh lost 3 wickets while scoring 176 runs. The bowlers toiled hard and exploited whatever was there on the surface. Umesh opened the wicket column when he sent back Shanto. This was followed by wickets from Axar and Kuldeep.
