Despite missing the entire group stage, as India opted to go with three frontline seamers in the USA, Kuldeep Yadav has hit the ground running in the Super 8 stage of the 2024 T20 World Cup. Brought back into the Playing XI as India’s venues shifted to the West Indies, the left-arm chinaman has picked up five wickets in the two Super 8 games so far. After scalping three wickets against Bangladesh, Kuldeep laid a comparison between the pressure of playing in the IPL and the pressure of a World Cup.
“IPL is completely different, boss. It’s totally different,” said Kuldeep. “What you experience in IPL is not what you’re experiencing in T20 World Cup,” he added.
Kuldeep enjoyed a brilliant season with Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024, picking up 16 wickets in 11 games, at a respectable economy of 8.65 in a run-rich IPL. Therefore, it was quite a surprise to fans and supporters of Team India when he was left out of the XI in India’s first group game against Ireland.
However, Kuldeep has been on fire in the Super 8. After getting two wickets against Afghanistan, Kuldeep picked up three crucial wickets against Bangladesh.
The 29-year-old chinaman got the wickets of opener Tanzid Hasan, the experienced Shakib al-Hasan, and the in-form Towhid Hridoy. He finished with figures of 3-19 from his four overs.
Kuldeep emphasised that spinners need to be aggressive to succeed in the shortest format.
“In this format (T20), you have to read what the batters are trying to do, but be more aggressive. The length matters a lot. The aggression is helping me through the IPL and the T20 World Cup,” he said.
With wins over Afghanistan and Bangladesh, India boast a very healthy net run rate in their Super 8 group, and are almost certainly going to make the semis of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
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