New Delhi :

Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav said that skipper Rohit Sharma helped him improve his batting skills during the five-match Test series against England at home from January to March this year. Kuldeep was speaking at a press event in Delhi ahead of his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise’s Delhi Capitals (DC) game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium. In India’s 4-1 triumph over England at home, Kuldeep had a very valuable role to play, not only with the ball as expected, but surprisingly with the bat as well. Not only he took 19 wickets in four games, including a five-wicket haul, but he also scored 97 runs in six innings at an average of 19.40, with the best score of 30. He would often find himself in situations that could make or break the match for India. With a solid defence, he would hold his end steady and allow the other batter to attack in pursuit of match-saving total or a match-winning target.

Also, during his side’s IPL game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens on May 29, Kuldeep scored a valuable 35* in 26 balls with five fours and a six, taking his team to a respectable total of 153/9. Though DC lost the game, Kuldeep top-scored for his side and added another feather to his growing reputation as a capable batter.

Speaking at the event, Kuldeep said Rohit does not talk much to him regarding his bowling because he is delivering at his role. However, Rohit was concerned about his batting and helped him get better at it by speaking about the nuances of the discipline during nets.

“Rohit bhai does not talk to me much about bowling because I am doing what he wants from me with the ball,” Kuldeep said. “He was concerned about my batting. He told me to improve my batting. I worked on it during the Test series against England [at home earlier this year] and he was impressed by my hard work. He used to be with me in the nets and speak to me about the nuances of batting. This helped me a lot and now I am enjoying my batting as much as my bowling,” said Kuldeep.

Coming to the IPL, DC will be taking on RR at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday. Delhi (10 points) is in the sixth position in the season with five wins, and six losses. RR is at the second spot, with eight wins and two losses, giving them 16 points. DC lost their previous match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets, while RR lost theirs to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

Delhi Capitals Squad:Prithvi Shaw, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Rasikh Dar Salam, Lizaad Williams, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Sumit Kumar, Praveen Dubey, Kumar Kushagra, Ricky Bhui, Ishant Sharma, David Warner, Gulbadin Naib, Jhye Richardson, Anrich Nortje, Lalit Yadav, Yash Dhull, Vicky Ostwal, Swastik Chikara

Rajasthan Royals Squad:Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Jos Buttler, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shubham Dubey, Navdeep Saini, Tanush Kotian, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Kuldeep Sen, Donovan Ferreira, Abid Mushtaq, Kunal Singh Rathore.