Indian pacer Kuldeep Yadav has opened up about his bond with captain Rohit Sharma after the 2024 T20 World Cup. He revealed how the team captain helped him stage a comeback and supported him during his tough time.
Kuldeep Yadav is currently one of the best cricket bowlers in the world. The Chinese bowler has made a huge impact on his team in all three formats of the game and is one of the main reasons behind the team’s success.
Kuldeep Yadav is one of the vital cogs of the Indian national cricket team and is the authentic wicket-taker that a team needs. The bowler has tilted the game in his team’s favour and has won many matches from losing positions.
However, Kuldeep Yadav has also gone through many low moments in his career. After the 2019 World Cup, he struggled with his delivery and could not make the kind of impact he would have wanted. He was even dropped from the team and to make matters worse, he got injured.
However, he came back strongly and is the frontline bowler in the Indian bowling line-up. Much of the credit for his comeback goes to captain Rohit Sharma, who gave him a lot of confidence and backed him in his tough time.
Kuldeep Yadav opened up about his love for Rohit Sharma and admitted that the captain was very supportive of him. He revealed how the veteran batsman told him to change a few things in his bowling in the NCA. Speaking to NDTV, he explained:
“Absolutely. I mean, I’m very fond of him. He loves me a lot, too. He supported me a lot through tough times. When I got injured, I was at the NCAA. I trained for two or three days. He told me that he didn’t know how you would do, but when you come back, I want to see the changes that I’ve told you to make in your pitching.”
“When I recovered from the injury, I joined the team straight away. I didn’t even get a chance to play local cricket. That made me very happy. Whenever a player gets injured, he plays local cricket first.”
He was very supportive of me – Kuldeep Yadav on Rohit Sharma
Kuldeep Yadav spoke about how Rohit Sharma trusted him when he didn’t trust himself. He humorously stated that the captain now talks to him about his batting. He explained it like this:
“He was very supportive. He trusted me a lot. Maybe I didn’t trust myself as much. The changes he told me to make and the changes I made, now he doesn’t talk to me about pitching. He talks more about hitting. That’s a good thing, too. I’m taking hitting very seriously. I hope to continue hitting well.”
Kuldeep Yadav played a vital role in India lifting the 2024 T20 World Cup. He took 10 wickets and helped the team etch the name in their record books.