Kuldeep Yadav: Bowling four hours in nets, trying not to use saliva

India’s left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav is bowling four hours daily and striving hard to curb his instinct of applying saliva on the ball.

File Picture: Kuldeep, under the tutelage of his childhood coach Kapil Pandey, is sweating it out at the local Rovers ground.

India’s left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav is bowling four hours daily while striving hard to curb his instinct of applying saliva on the ball. Kuldeep, under the tutelage of his childhood coach Kapil Pandey, is sweating it out at the local Rovers ground.

“I have started training at the Rovers ground in Lal Bangla area. I am doing two sessions per day. In the morning from 7:30 to 9 am, I do my physical training. Then I go back home and come back in the evening. From 4 pm to 8 pm, I am regularly bowling in the nets,” said Kuldeep.

“It’s only been a week that I have started outdoor training. All this while, I was at home maintaining social distancing norms. Now I believe within next few weeks, I would be ready for competitive cricket as and when it starts,” he added.

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For the 25-year-old, the biggest concern is controlling the habit of using saliva. “Look, since childhood, we have this habit of applying saliva on the ball to keep the shine. With new ICC rules in place, I am trying to get rid of the habit.

“I believe it needs to be imbibed in training sessions first. Hopefully, we will have some alternative in place,” said Kuldeep, who has 167 international wickets across formats.

ICC has banned the use of saliva but players can use sweat to shine the ball.