• Source:JND
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IND vs ENG: India's star wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has opened up as to how post his knee surgery way back in 2021, he didn't just change his bowling action but also had to work doubly hard on his fitness since he was supposed to bowl four overs during a T20I match. During an interview with Indian Express, Kuldeep reckoned that post-his surgery, Ashish Kaushik, who is the head physiotherapist at the NCA, had informed him that his front foot was carrying a lot of load due to his earlier bowling action and that can impact his career.

At first, Kuldeep didn't think too much about it but then eventually began working on it, when he went back to his home in Kanpur and had put in hard yards.

“Initially, there were several problems. To flip your old action is very difficult. It took about a month and a half to get the rhythm. It would be there one day and not there the next. It took me 6 months to get the rhythm," Kuldeep was quoted as saying to the Indian Express.

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The new action was quicker and Kuldeep didn't just walk up to his runup and that also affected him.

“I need so much energy to bowl with the altered action, I couldn’t bowl more than 4 to 5 overs. The run-up was fast and my approach was aggressive. Even 4 overs in T20 was difficult," he added.

Ex-strength and conditioning coach of the Men in Blue had played a huge role in helping him regain his match fitness since captain Rohit Sharma was quite worried in those games.

“Soham Desai prepared me so that I started retaining my energy – I could give maximum effort for at least 6 overs. “You must have heard a lot of times in the match, Rohit bhai would keep asking me – Thak raha hai kya (Hope you are not tired)? Now luckily I have started putting in long spells of 8-9 overs. I have also put in 10-12 overs in Tests. It took me 3 years to get that energy to bowl a long spell," he further added.

Kuldeep is currently in England for the five-match Test series against England and would be eyeing a spot in the playing for the second match as he didn't play during the series opener in Leeds. The second match would start on July 2, Wednesday.