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Kuldeep Yadav produced another sensational spell to help India thrash West Indies by five wickets in the first ODI at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Thursday (July 28). Kuldeep ripped through the West Indies batting line up with his spin web and skittled the entire team for a paltry total of 114. He returned with a robust bowling figure of 4/6 which left West Indies batters sulking.
Yet again the left-arm ace spinner justified his spot with another incredible show which also earned him the Player of the Match award. Kuldeep has been giving back to back exceptional performances ever since he has made his India comeback after a brief lean patch.
After the match, Kuldeep also broke silence on getting dropped from the fold despite performing well for the Men in Blue. Reflecting on the point Kuldeep said,"On a lot of occasions, the situation and due to the combination, I have to sit out. It's pretty normal for me as I've been playing international cricket for close to six years. I keep myself relaxed when I'm not playing. When you're playing, there's pressure to perform well.”
After his wizardry with the ball in Barbados, Kuldeep also admitted that he is not thinking too much about taking wickets and has been focusing on the process instead.
"Since my return from injury last year, I've been trying to consistently bowl the right lengths. Sometimes you get wickets, sometimes you don't even when you bowl well, but length is very crucial especially for the spinners. When the opposition loses a few wickets, then I try my variations for wickets. Happy with the way I started in the first ODI," he added.
Kuldeep's cracking spell was coupled with another spin wizardry by Ravindra Jadeja who dazzled with a decent bowling figure of 3/37 and bundled West Indies' innings in mere 23 overs. The spin duo together also scripted a rare record as this was the first time in India’s 49-year-old ODI cricket history that the two left-arm spinners combined to take seven or more wickets in a match.
Despite India wrapped up Caribbeans' innings cheaply they suffered some hiccups during the chase. India lost five wickets in the chase but Ishan Kishan's fiery fifty ensured India get over the finishing line without toiling much.
Kuldeep also lauded West Indies' good bowling and said India could have been more proficient in the chase.
"We could have chased it down with just one or two wickets down. But they bowled really well. The new guy was very good and the left-armer as well. You want to give opportunities to the younger boys, we did that. In the next game, you'll probably see the full side batting and hopefully we can win the second one and win the series," Kuldeep concluded.
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