How can Kuldeep get better? Deep Dasgupta answers: ‘Can’t be hit for a six over square-leg’

In this IPL, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav have gone wicket-less in six matches for Delhi Capitals

While Delhi Capitals lost by eight wickets against Kolkata Knight Riders at Delhi on Friday night, it was the sixth time that left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav failed to take any wicket for Delhi Capitals in a match in this IPL season. Yadav, who returned with figures of 41 for 0 in three overs on Friday, went wicket-less for the third successive time in IPL and currently has seven wickets at an average of 50.29 in nine innings this IPL. Former Indian wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta believes Yadav should be bowling ‘fuller’ and should not give away runs with the batsman playing him from the back foot.

“My thing with Kuldeep is you can’t be hit for a six over square-leg off a short ball and long-off or long-on. Yes, you will get hit. This is that kind of format. So I would rather have him be hit over mid-off or mid-on down the ground rather than square of the wicket or extra cover. You get hit off the front foot, it’s fair enough. But not off the back foot. Basically bowl fuller. If you look at the last over he bowled, I thought he was much better. A slip in place and the moment you put a slip in place, from a bowler’s point of view, you are thinking, ‘I need to pick a wicket’. And how do I pick up a wicket? You are not picking a wicket off a short ball. You are picking a wicket off a fuller delivery. So straightaway, mentally you are bowling fuller. So that is the kind of space that you would rather have Kuldeep in. Even if he gets hit, it’s off the front foot, down the ground rather than square off the wicket,” said Dasgupta while speaking with ESPNCricinfo.

Yadav had started this IPL without taking any wicket against Mumbai Indians in the first match of Delhi Capitals. After taking a solitary wicket against Gujarat Titans, Yadav again wicketless in Capitals’ next two matches before he picked up two wickets against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Since then, Yadav has gone wicket-less in four innings out of five innings. Former New Zealand pair Former New Zealand pacer Mitchell McClenaghan shared how Yadav could have taken a cue from Kolkata Knight Riders’ spinner Anukul Roy, who used inside and outside of the pitch to take advantage. “I think when Anukul Roy was under pressure from Pathum Nissanka, he used inside and outside. I did not see that today. I saw a lot of deliveries between the fourth, fifth, sixth and even seventh stump . You know just in that nice hand freeing arc. Whether it was a little bit shorter or a little bit full. There were not a lot of deliveries out there either hitting the top of leg stump or like three quarters of the way up leg stump or outside the wide line, when guys are trying to go after you. And you have to play in the corner of the base. So there were a lot of laneway deliveries tonight,” shared McClenaghan while speaking on the same show.

Post the loss, Delhi Capitals’ skipper Axar Patel had spoken about how the spinners made some mistakes in the match. “I think the runs were definitely below par and at the same time the spinners made quite a few mistakes. Looking at the way the pitch behaved, I feel the spinners did make errors. But at the same time, if you notice, we lost five wickets in two-three overs, and I think that’s where the momentum slipped away from us. That’s probably something we need to think about because the same thing happened against CSK, we started well, and then suddenly wickets kept falling,” Patel said post the loss.

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While Delhi Capitals lost by eight wickets against Kolkata Knight Riders at Delhi on Friday night, it was the sixth time that left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav failed to take any wicket for Delhi Capitals in a match in this IPL season. Yadav, who returned with figures of 41 for 0 in three overs on Friday, went wicket-less for the third successive time in IPL and currently has seven wickets at an average of 50.29 in nine innings this IPL. Former Indian wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta believes Yadav should be bowling ‘fuller’ and should not give away runs with the batsman playing him from the back foot.

“My thing with Kuldeep is you can’t be hit for a six over square-leg off a short ball and long-off or long-on. Yes, you will get hit. This is that kind of format. So I would rather have him be hit over mid-off or mid-on down the ground rather than square of the wicket or extra cover. You get hit off the front foot, it’s fair enough. But not off the back foot. Basically bowl fuller. If you look at the last over he bowled, I thought he was much better. A slip in place and the moment you put a slip in place, from a bowler’s point of view, you are thinking, ‘I need to pick a wicket’. And how do I pick up a wicket? You are not picking a wicket off a short ball. You are picking a wicket off a fuller delivery. So straightaway, mentally you are bowling fuller. So that is the kind of space that you would rather have Kuldeep in. Even if he gets hit, it’s off the front foot, down the ground rather than square off the wicket,” said Dasgupta while speaking with ESPNCricinfo.

Yadav had started this IPL without taking any wicket against Mumbai Indians in the first match of Delhi Capitals. After taking a solitary wicket against Gujarat Titans, Yadav again wicketless in Capitals’ next two matches before he picked up two wickets against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Since then, Yadav has gone wicket-less in four innings out of five innings. Former New Zealand pair Former New Zealand pacer Mitchell McClenaghan shared how Yadav could have taken a cue from Kolkata Knight Riders’ spinner Anukul Roy, who used inside and outside of the pitch to take advantage. “I think when Anukul Roy was under pressure from Pathum Nissanka, he used inside and outside. I did not see that today. I saw a lot of deliveries between the fourth, fifth, sixth and even seventh stump . You know just in that nice hand freeing arc. Whether it was a little bit shorter or a little bit full. There were not a lot of deliveries out there either hitting the top of leg stump or like three quarters of the way up leg stump or outside the wide line, when guys are trying to go after you. And you have to play in the corner of the base. So there were a lot of laneway deliveries tonight,” shared McClenaghan while speaking on the same show.

Post the loss, Delhi Capitals’ skipper Axar Patel had spoken about how the spinners made some mistakes in the match. “I think the runs were definitely below par and at the same time the spinners made quite a few mistakes. Looking at the way the pitch behaved, I feel the spinners did make errors. But at the same time, if you notice, we lost five wickets in two-three overs, and I think that’s where the momentum slipped away from us. That’s probably something we need to think about because the same thing happened against CSK, we started well, and then suddenly wickets kept falling,” Patel said post the loss.