India’s premier left-arm chinaman bowler, Kuldeep Yadav, has named the toughest batsmen he has bowled to in the nets.
One-half of the famous wrist-spinning duo ‘Kul-Cha’, wreaked havoc in top batting lineups around the world, with his deception through flight, googlies and nagging line and lengths.
However, Kuldeep found it difficult to dislodge the Saurashtra rock, Cheteshwar Pujara, and ‘Hitman’ Rohit Sharma while bowling in the nets.
Pujara, during the 2018 Australia tour, demoralised the heavyweight Australian bowling lineup with his patience and defense technique. He holds the record for facing the most number of deliveries faced in a single series.
On the other hand, Rohit is one of the best players of spin due to his attacking capabilities. Rohit’s slog sweeps to spinners makes him one of the toughest batsmen to contain.
“Toughest batsman in the nets is Cheteshwar Pujara I guess. He plays very well against any offspinner, especially in Test cricket. And in ODI format it is Rohit Sharma. Of course, there are plenty of youngsters as well. They aren’t afraid of going for the big shots. So everyone is good. But Pujara in Tests is really difficult to bowl to,” Kuldeep told cricket.com.
Kuldeep made his way into the team after his defining performance against Australia in the 2017 Dharmasala Test, where he picked the vital wicket of Steve Smith and three other batsmen.
Shortly after, he became an indispensable part of the Indian lineup in white-ball cricket, along with Yuzvendra Chahal.
However, the management of-late has dismantled the hit bowling pair by opting just one of the wrist-spinners in the playing XI. In 60 ODIs he has featured in thus far, he has scalped 104 wickets with best figures of 6/25.
The leggie is no mug in the T20I format either, with 39 wickets in 21 games. Very seldom does Kuldeep get an opportunity in the whites for India but has picked 24 wickets in just six games he featured in.
