IND vs PAK: Kuldeep Yadav kept his rhythm going as he put up a stunning performance against Pakistan in match 12 of the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
The star spinner reflected on his effective outing against the arch-rivals as he created confusion in the minds of Pakistani batters, forcing them to play risky shots like sweep and reverse sweep as they struggled to read his bowling.
Kuldeep bowled brilliantly and finished with the promising figures of 2/35 in his quota of 10 overs, including the wickets of Saud Shakeel and Iftikhar Ahmed.
While Shakeel is known for his attacking way of driving the innings in mid-overs, Iftikhar is one of the lethal finishers in Pakistan's batting lineup known for his big hits towards the end of the innings.
ALSO READ: ENG vs AFG Live Cricket Score, ODI World Cup 2023
The duo was kept aside by Kuldeep as they fell prey to the stat spinner while attempting to play the sweep shot, leading to their team's horrible batting collapse.
Kuldeep admitted that his deliveries created difficulty in mids of the batters to read, ending up getting confused about whether to sweep or play normally.
Asked if he planned to bowl Iftikhar around his legs, Kuldeep gave an interesting reply.
"No, I didn't plan that I would try to bowl Iftikhar around the legs but since I bowl the wrong 'un (googly), I tried that but it was a wide ball and also a bit on the shorter side which made it difficult for him to sweep," Kuldeep said after the win.
"It was a lucky wicket for me and this kind of wicket puts pressure on batters.
"They weren't able to read me from the hands and were in two minds whether to sweep or play normally. I would have loved to get him out in a better manner though," Kuldeep said with a smile," he added.
He revealed that he wanted to dismiss Iftikhar in a better way and also talked about how he was asked to bowl that crucial over.
"I thought they would try to sweep as they are known to play that shot. But they didn't take a chance but that extra over that I bowled after discussing with the skipper, both wickets came in that over," Kuldeep further said.
Kuldeep explained the importance of Mohammed Siraj's success against Babar Azam as he dismissed the Pakistan captain that went on to help the team.
"Obviously Mohammed Siraj got Babar and that breakthrough helped. Planning to bowl that extra over did get us those two wickets and they couldn't recover."
ALSO READ: Rohit Sharma Flexes Muscles To Umpire After Scoring Six, Shares Reason With Hardik Pandya
He then concluded by expressing his happiness over the team's unbeaten record over the arch-rivals which was extended to 8-0 on Saturday.
"To be honest, I played 3-4 games against them and was lucky to win all of them. For me, you saw the crowd, and atmosphere you want to do well. In 2019, the best moment was playing against Pakistan," he added.