'I didn't feel that kind of pressure' - Kuldeep Yadav after successful return to Test format in Bangladesh

Kuldeep Yadav proved the best bowler for India in the first innings of the ongoing Test match against Bangladesh in Chattogram. He took four wickets on Day 2 and grabbed another on Day 3 (December 16) to complete a five-for. This was his only third five-wicket haul from the 14 innings, and it proved to be his career-best figures in the format. Apart from his heroics with bowling, Kuldeep also scored crucial 40 runs off 114 balls in the first innings to help India surpass the 400-run mark.

The 28-year-old leg-spinner last played Test cricket in February 2021 against England in Chennai. But he has been around the Indian squad in white-ball cricket despite not getting picked in the playing XI for most of the games. But he was finally given the opportunity as India chose to go with three spin and two pace options in the Chattogram Test. 

I didn't feel that kind of pressure because I have been with the team regularly: Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep welcomed the opportunity with open arms and outshined the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel by taking five wickets. It was obvious on his end to feel the pressure as he was returning to international red-ball cricket after 22 months. But after the end of Day 3, Kuldeep revealed that he was not thinking about it and didn't feel like playing after almost two years.

"I wasn't thinking much about not having played for so long. Yes, if you haven't been playing any format at all and haven't spent any time with the team, then of course it is different. But if you have been playing some format, it is not as much pressure. I didn't feel that kind of pressure because I have been with the team regularly. It is two years on the paper, yes, but it didn't feel like I was playing after two years," Kuldeep said after the end of Day 3.

Kuldeep also discussed the challenge of bowling in red-ball cricket. He said that the bowlers need a lot of control to find wickets as batters have a lot of time to wait for loose deliveries.

"You need a lot of control in Test cricket. In white-ball cricket, you can have defensive fields, the batters' mindset is different. In Test cricket, you have to get the wickets because the batters have a lot of time to sit back and wait for the loose ball. That is the challenge. You have to set batters up. You have to bowl in one spot consistently," Kuldeep added.

Thanks to Kuldeep's impressive spell, Bangladesh's first innings collapsed on just 150 runs. Then Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara smashed centuries on Day 3 as Indian captain KL Rahul declared an innings on 258/2 in the third session to put a 513-run target for the hosts. However, Bangladesh openers started positively and replied with 42/0 at the end of day three's play on Friday.