Kuldeep Yadav has been amongst the Asia Cup in 2023. The wrist-spinner picked up a five-wicket haul against Pakistan. Then it was followed by 4-43 in 9.3 overs against Sri Lanka in a low-scoring encounter where The Men in Blue ended up winning the game by 41 runs. In the last two games, Kuldeep revealed some tweaks that he made recently which included making his run-up straighter along with an aggressive rhythm.
Kuldeep said that he did not want to lose out on his spin and drift that initially got him into the Indian side. He said he worked hard on having them in his arsenal after surgery. He also revealed that he worked with NCA Physio Ashish Kaushik to reduce the strain on his knee when he was landing inside the crease. Kuldeep bowls a faster delivery along with his ones with a lot of turn so it has been difficult for the batters to read him.
It took 6-7 games to get to a proper level with the action - Kuldeep Yadav
"After the (knee) surgery (last year), my run-up has become much straighter, and the rhythm has become aggressive. My hand used to fall over but that has been controlled and now it (hand) is facing the batsman," Kuldeep said after the match against Pakistan. "I exerted care not to lose my spin and drift without losing my pace. If a leg-spinner lands the ball on a good length, he can pick up wickets more regularly and loose balls can be reduced. You can be consistent," he added.
I worked to make my rhythm faster," The leg-spinner said. "I tried the new action in a practice game in Kanpur. The batsmen were struggling to face me. But even in the IPL and during the tour of the West Indies I was struggling with it (action). It took some 6-7 matches for me to make work at this level," Kuldeep added. There are not a lot of wrist spinners and it was difficult for Sri Lanka to come up trumps against Kuldeep.