Kuldeep backs Gill to come good as captain saying that ‘He’s fully ready to lead us’ in the upcoming England series.
Kuldeep backs Gill on being ‘fully ready to lead us’.
Ahead of India’s five-match Test series in England, Kuldeep Yadav has been “spending a lot of time” on and off the pitch with fellow spinner Ravindra Jadeja, probing his brain.
Kuldeep has only participated in one Test match in England, which took place at Lord’s in 2018. In England’s lone innings, he failed to take a wicket and gave up 44 runs in nine overs. Since then, though, he has developed into a more well-rounded bowler. With a cut-off of 50 wickets, no spinner in Test history has taken more wickets than him, with 56 in 13 Tests at an average of 22.16 and a strike rate of 37.3.
“Playing alongside Jadeja is such a great honour for me,” Kuldeep said. “Obviously, Jadeja and [R] Ashwin have been brilliant over the last few years. When I made my debut in India, they helped me a lot. And even now, we have been having a lot of chat about how to bowl to certain batters, given the way the England batters are batting at the moment.
“I’m actually spending a lot of time with him, not only on the field, but also outside as well. So it has actually helped me a lot in terms of tactics and the field placements, and he has given some tips as well.”
Kuldeep has been sitting next to Jadeja on the team bus, replacing Rohit Sharma, who is no longer playing Test cricket. Kuldeep chuckled when questioned about it.
“I can never take Rohit bhai’s place,” he said. “It’s just that I’m spending a lot of time with Jaddu bhai. It’s obviously very important for me as a spinner, because Ash bhai [Ashwin, also retired] isn’t there, and I’ve learned a lot from Ash bhai, and now that he isn’t there, [I’m looking to learn from] whichever senior player is there.”
In the wake of Rohit’s retirement, India have handed the Test captaincy to Shubman Gill. Kuldeep felt Gill was “fully ready to lead” the side.
“Shubman knows how to lead a team,” Kuldeep said. “He has worked under the seniors in the last couple of years. In the last one year, you’d have seen him in a lot of discussions with Rohit bhai – not only in Tests but even in ODIs. I’m sure he has learned a lot, but as a leader, from what I have seen so far, he’s very motivated and he’s been playing an active role in lifting the team.
“I have seen over the last three-four sessions that Shubman has the same qualities that I’ve seen in our previous leadership groups. He’s fully ready to lead us.”