We worked on being in the right frame of mind: Mhambrey on Kuldeep
Since his comeback in February 2022, he has claimed 50 wickets in 28 ODIs at an economy of 4.68 and become India's lead spinner
It’s well-documented by now that Kuldeep Yadav has made technical changes to his bowling. The left-arm wrist spinner has spoken in elaborate detail about the straightening of his run-up, the greater use of his non-bowling arm and how he's increased his average speed without compromising on the fundamental tenets of his craft.
What wasn’t so explicitly known is the work on his mental side. Kuldeep, 28, has had his share of turmoil to surmount in recent years. He was in and out of the Indian team after the 2019 ODI World Cup, lost his place in his previous IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders and suffered a knee injury in the second half of 2021 that required surgery. None of this must have been easy for someone still figuring out his game in the unsparing cauldron of international cricket.
“At this level there is so much pressure that you go through, you need to understand,” India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said of Kuldeep’s evolution. “I can't go too much in depth on what we really spoke, but I said you need to work on the mental aspect as well. Other than the technical aspect, your mental aspect is important.
"It's important to be in the right frame of mind, in the right space, when you're playing every game. And that's something we worked on. It's a combination. You need to give credit to him. He had played a fair bit of international cricket prior to that. But to understand why we are saying certain things and to work on it. That's important. He's worked on it. We are there to help him and he's taken help,” he added.
The results are for all to see. Since his comeback in February 2022, he has claimed 50 wickets in 28 ODIs at an economy of 4.68. In the process, he has become India’s lead spinner overcoming strict competition from some worthy contenders.
The assurance of knowing he’s India’s first-choice spinner in this format has resulted in greater confidence.
“When he played his first Test in Sydney, he spoke to me 3-4 times on the phone and asked what he should be doing. Now we talk maybe once before a game. He knows where he should be bowling. He has become relaxed now,” his childhood coach Kapil Pandey told HT in September.
One of the men Kuldeep is keeping out is ace off-spinner R Ashwin, whose game time in this World Cup has been restricted to playing against Australia on a surface in Chennai that merited three spinners.
“Yeah, it's a really tough one when you have a world-class bowler among your 15. He's a great team guy. I've never seen him grumpy; I haven't seen him complaining for the last few years that he's been with us. Even after so many years, he's there, he wants to do well for the team, he turns up every practice session, goes through the rigorous grind and he keeps bowling,” Mhambrey said.
