Kuldeep Yadav Opens Up About His Test Debut And His Banter With Captain Virat Kohli On Their Favorite Soccer Players

Kuldeep Yadav, the vile Indian left-arm leg-spinner from Uttar Pradesh, has had a whirlwind career thus far. From becoming the only Indian bowler to claim two ODI hat-tricks to finding himself out of the playing 11 in the 2019 World Cup semi-final, Kuleep has experienced inexplicable highs and heart wrenching lows in his three-year-old International career.

In a freewheeling chat on Cricbuzz show ‘Spicy Pitch’, the chinaman bowler opened up on a plethora of things ranging from his banter with captain Virat Kohli around their favorite footballers to his emotions when he made his Test debut against Australia in Dharamsala 2017.

There is little secret in the fact that Indian cricketers are huge fans of soccer players. Virat Kohli is a self-confessed Cristiano Ronaldo fan and has time and again revealed that he supports Spanish football club Real Madrid. Kuldeep, on the other hand, is a huge fan of Neymar Jr and during the chat, the left-hander revealed a hilarious discussion with Virat over a football match.

“The first football match I saw was Brazil vs Spain in 2012, in which Neymar was playing. I saw him for the first time, and I thought he is a great player. His quality and skill level was too good. He is my favourite player since then. Many people don’t like him. Me and captain Virat Kohli argue a lot over this, because he is a Ronaldo fan,” Kuldeep Yadav said.

He added:”Yes, absolutely. My favourite club is FC Barcelona. Once, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick for Portugal. So, Kohli came to me and he was showing me a video. That evening, Messi also scored a hat-trick as well, so I showed that to him and said ‘look at this’,” 

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Kuldeep Yadav opens up about his Test debut

Kuldeep made his Test debut for India during the series-decider against Australia in Dharamsala back in 2017 and the left-hander revealed that every time he reminisces about that game, he tends to get emotional. He also revealed what the then head coach Anil Kumble told him, a day prior to the game.

“I get emotional when I remember my Test debut in Dharamsala. The most important thing for me at the time was how to perform. I remember a day before the match, Anil sir came to me and said ‘you will play tomorrow, you have to take 5 wickets’. It was my first Test wicket. I felt really emotionally attached that I was almost into tears.” Kuldeep Yadav revealed.

Kuldeep went on to play a crucial role in that game as he claimed four wickets in the first innings to help India restrict Australia for 300. The Men in Blue eventually went on to win the game by eight wickets.

Also Read: When MS Dhoni Lost His Cool On Kuldeep Yadav During a 2017 India-Sri Lanka T20I