ODI World Cup 2023: India's star spinner Kuldeep Yadav has credited a relaxed approach in bowling for his emergence as an effective performer in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023.

Kuldeep called himself a more mature bowler as compared to the one who made his World Cup debut in 2019.

The left-arm spinner is playing his second ODI World Cup and has been bowling brilliantly to help the team maintain their winning streak in the tournament so far.

Kuldeep has contributed with eight wickets in five matches at an average of 29.62 while partnering with Ravindra Jadeja to keep the team's bowling department up and running well.

Notably, he took a total of six wickets from seven appearances at his inaugural World Cup and has already exceeded that with an improved outing in the marquee tournament in this edition.

 

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"I’m not thinking too much about other things, to be honest," Kuldeep said on the latest episode of The ICC Review podcast.

"I don’t think so much. I watch other sports. I don’t fear failure too much now. I don’t think too much about the fact that if I don’t perform what will happen?

Kuldeep headed into the World Cup after a spectacular performance in the Asia Cup 2023 as he was awarded the Player of the Tournament award and has continued the momentum in the World Cup at home.

"I keep working on my things, on improving my bowling and I try to think about the skills that are in my hand and are in my control.

"I’m not thinking about how the batter is playing. I work on what I can do as a bowler, so perhaps, that is what makes me relaxed."

Kuldeep kicked off the tournament with two wickets against Australia followed it by one scalp for 40 runs in the next match against Afghanistan.

In the all-important match against the arch-rivals Pakistan, Kuldeep bowled brilliantly and finished with effective figures of 35/2 in his 10 overs. He finished picking up one wicket against Bangladesh before picking up another two against the Blackcaps.

 

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He was a bit expensive against New Zealand as he gave away 73 runs but picked up crucial wickets of skipper Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips.

With the help of Mohammed Shami's five-wicket haul, India restricted New Zealand to 273 before chasing down the total with four wickets in hand and two overs to spare.