IPL 2020: Kuldeep Yadav raring to play for Kolkata Knight Riders; reflects on bond with Yuzvendra Chahal

What's the story?

Indian chinaman bowler, Kuldeep Yadav has set his focus on the upcoming season on IPL, stating that he is fully ready for the tournament. Yadav also spoke about the challenges that a player faces in IPL. He even reflected on the team's recent defeats against New Zealand in the ICC World Test Championship.

The background

Kuldeep Yadav has been one of India's best spinners in white-ball cricket. He has achieved the rare feat of picking up two hat-tricks in ODI cricket. Although he has struggled with his fitness recently, Kuldeep has worked hard on his bowling and is looking forward to making a stellar comeback in IPL 2020 after a disappointing campaign last year.

The heart of the matter

Kuldeep Yadav reportedly carried a shoulder injury

Also see – IPL team list

Speaking to the reporters on the sidelines of Times of India Sports Awards, the left-arm chinaman bowler gave an update about his preparations for IPL 2020. He said:

"IPL is a platform that forces you to be alert all the time. For now I am fully ready for the tournament. It's very important with the T20 format and the intensity is always high in this format. So I am fully focussed on it. Any player likes to keep playing. IPL is a platform where if you play regularly you perform well. Even when I'm not playing I keep practicing so that I am ready when I get a chance."

When asked about why the team management did not consider him for the Tests against New Zealand, the 25-year-old mentioned that the tracks were very different and they offered zero assistance to the spinners.

Kuldeep and Chahal made life difficult for the batsmen

He was asked about his partnership with fellow Indian leggie Yuzvendra Chahal and inquired about the chances of him and Chahal playing together at the T20 World Cup. Kuldeep replied:

"Our team is very strong and we will make as much effort as possible to put up a strong performance. As far as wrist spin goes, it depends upon what the management decides. If there are two players who are very good at forming batting or bowling partnerships, it is always great for the team. So it will be good if we play together."

However, Kuldeep even noted that Ravindra Jadeja's presence in the playing XI provided a lot more balance to the team. Jadeja provides depth to the batting thus, the team management prefers to pick him regularly. The Kolkata Knight Riders player even talked about the absence of MS Dhoni from the international arena. He stated that he misses Dhoni a lot but he even heaped praise on the work done by Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.

What's next?

Yadav was among the six Indian players named in the Asia XI squad for the iconic series against World XI. It will be interesting to see how he performs in the upcoming T20 season.