'I will try to plan every game better' - Kuldeep Yadav admits that 2019 was a tough year for him

Kuldeep Yadav would want to forget the year 2019 as soon as possible. The year saw the wily chinaman bowler getting pummeled by batsmen all over the world and his performances for both Team India and his IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders proved to be below par. This led to him being dropped from the Indian team midway and he missed out on playing the semi-final as well.

In the 2019 edition of the Indian Premier League, Kuldeep managed just 4 wickets in 9 games for KKR which came at an economy of 8.66 and average of 71.50 and he was seen shedding tears in a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore when Moeen Ali took him to the cleaners smashing two fours and three sixes in one over of the chinaman. However, Kuldeep feels 2020 will be a better year for him, as he now knows how to plan it better.

‘I learned a lot of things in 2019’: Kuldeep Yadav

“It (2019) was a tough one. I learned a lot of things and the biggest positive was getting to know that I could have planned things better. If I thought more and gave more time to myself, I could have performed better. In 2020, I will try to plan every game better and give myself more time, so I get more time to reflect on my game,” Kuldeep Yadav was quoted by timesnownews while speaking on sidelines in Pune ahead of the 3^rd T20I against Sri Lanka.

Kuldeep ended 2019 on a good note picking 5 wickets against West Indies in the white-ball series. He has picked two wickets in the second T20I against Sri Lanka in Indore as well. “I want to be more mentally prepared this year. I will definitely take the help of video analysts and speak to the bowling coach (Bharat Arun) in the nets, where we can figure out the strengths and weaknesses of various batsmen,” he further added.

Kuldeep mentioned that everyone has figured him out now after bowling nonstop for more than two years and that time has come for him to bring something new in his repertoire to bamboozle the batsmen. “Now everyone knows how Kuldeep bowls, he is a chinaman, who has wrong-uns, flippers. So, I have to bring changes in my bowling, which the batsmen cannot figure out,” the chinaman added.

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