Kuldeep Yadav Names The Hat-Trick Against West Indies As His Top Performance
Updated - 19 Dec 2019, 01:00 PM
India sealed an emphatic win against the West Indies by 107 runs in Vishakhapatnam in the second ODI to level the three-match series. Multiple star performers plotted the men in blue’s victory; however, Kuldeep Yadav’s hattrick grabbed the spotlight in a slugfest. Although the left-arm spinner is one of the mainstays in their limited-overs set up, he admitted he was under pressure leading up this bilateral series.
The introduction of Kuldeep Yadav in the side and his positive impact in brief outings meant that he quickly sealed his place in the Indian team. Kuldeep ended 2018 as the second-highest wicket-taker in 50-over cricket, having snapped 45 scalps in 19 matches. Though even in 2019, he is amongst the list; however, has been consistent. The 25-year old averaged 71.50 with the ball in IPL and 67.50 in the World Cup 2019, thereby enduring a sharp decline from the previous year.
Speaking after the second ODI, the Kanpur-born spinner conceded that due to inconsistent performances in the last ten months, he had plenty of doubts about his abilities. He put in the hard yards for four months after the selectors wielded the axe on him post the World Cup.
“The last 10 months were very tough for me. After consistent performances, there comes a phase when wickets don’t come by and you start thinking more about your bowling. After World Cup, I was dropped from the team, then I worked really hard for four months,” Kuldeep Yadav said as quoted by India Today
Left-arm spinner labels this as his best performance
After going wicketless for 45 runs in 10 overs in Chennai in the first ODI, Kuldeep bounced back with figures of 10-0-52-3. His victims in the hattrick included Windies’ top run-scorer Shai Hope, who scored 78. His other two scalps involved Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph. He stated that, playing his first match for the national team in four months, he was nervous. He termed the performance on Wednesday as his best since he thrived under intense pressure and it was the result of hard work over the past four to five months.
“The T20 against West Indies in Mumbai was my first match for India in four months. I was a bit nervous as there was a bit of gap and I hadn’t played international cricket during that phase. Performance-wise, this hat-trick will be at the top of the list because the pressure was on me and it was a result of 4-5 months of hardwork,” Kuldeep stated.
The home side piled on a mammoth total of 387 on the back of centuries from Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. The Windies threatened to chase the total down when Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran were indulged in a whirlwind stand of 106. Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav bagged three wickets each. Kuldeep Yadav became the first Indian cricketer two international hattricks, the first of which came against Australia in 2017. Rohit Sharma received the man of the match award for striking 159 off 138 balls. The series finale now moves on to Cuttack which would be played on December 22nd.
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India National Cricket Team India vs West Indies 2019 KL Rahul Kuldeep Yadav Rohit Sharma West Indies National Cricket Team
