"Had mostly hit the Chinaman": Kuldeep Yadav on his bowling performance against Pakistan in Champions Trophy

Dubai [UAE], February 24 (ANI): After clinching a six-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025 at the Dubai International Stadium, India spinner Kuldeep Yadav shared insights on his exceptional bowling performance in the clash.
On Sunday, Kuldeep rewrote the history books during his exploits in the Champions Trophy blockbuster clash between India and Pakistan in Dubai. Kuldeep spun Pakistan batters inside out to turn the tides in favour of India. He returned with splendid figures of 3/40 in his nine-over spell. With this spell, the 'Chinaman' spinner joined an exclusive club after becoming just the fifth spinner for India to take 300-plus international wickets.
After enjoying a fruitful spell, he joined India's decorated spinners - Anil Kumble (953), Ravichandran Ashwin (765), Harbhajan Singh (707) and Ravindra Jadeja (604), who boast 300-plus international wickets. Overall, he is the 13th Indian player to go past the 300-wicket mark in the international circuit.
"There was no such plan. In the first spell, I had mostly hit the Chinaman. I have a variation on the wrong one. I also hit the top spin with the wrong one. The first wicket of Salman was a normal Chinaman. The second wicket was a first ball Shaheen. I was targeting the wicket. I thought it was a better option to hit the wrong one. I have to see which wicket I can hit the batsman. I have to think about which delivery I can hit. The incoming deliveries are difficult if it is a slow track. This was my plan," Kuldeep Yadav told the media after the match.
Further, the 30-year-old player spoke about the plan which he used against Pakistani batters in the match and also spoke about what Team India skipper Rohit Sharma expected from him
"The plan was very simple. Especially in a wicket like this, you tend to become the first choice in bowling the last 10 overs. Even the captain felt that it is very difficult to hit against spinners when you have variations. Luckily, it was good for me. The wicket was slow. I was trying to mix with the pace and wrong ones. Or top spin. If you get one or two wickets in the middle, the batsmen tend to block you. That's what they did in the last 10 overs. The captain told me straight away, I want a wicket. If you can get me a couple of wickets, that would be good," Kuldeep Yadav added. (ANI)