‘My job is to take wickets…’: Kuldeep Yadav makes BOLD claim about his role in Indian team

While spinners who can bat are in vogue these days, Kuldeep has his priorities clear and won’t deviate from his philosophy. “If I play in any team, I will play as a (specialist) bowler. My job is to take wickets. If I don’t take wickets, there will be no place for me. It is very important to understand that when you play as a proper bowler, your job is to take wickets for the team,” Kuldeep said on Thursday.

While being considered as India’s most versatile spinner of current times, Kuldeep Yadav made it clear that he doesn’t want to try and transform himself into a bowling all-rounder. He prefers working on his skills, improve his fitness, and increase the volume of his bowling. It has also paid him off very well as Kuldeep got back-to-back Player of the Match award in the first two Asia Cup games including a three-wicket haul against his happy hunting team Pakistan.

“No, there was clear communication. Sometimes, in 3-4 matches, I felt that I could play, but unfortunately, I couldn’t play. Gauti bhai (Gambhir) was very straightforward. Sometimes, I felt that I could play, but as you know, because of the batting combination, I couldn’t,” Kuldeep said when asked about there being any communication from Gautam Gambhir.

Kuldeep is also very critical of his own bowling, and doesn’t feel he is still performing at his full potential, even though his T20I record is impressive. “I don’t think I am bowling that well. But I think I can improve and become better. Sometimes, you make a mistake in reading the batsman in this format. When you are at the top of a team and make small mistakes, you don’t notice it. But you feel that you have made a mistake. I still have to work on that. I think I need to work more in bowling because there are more formats,: he said.