Spinner Kuldeep Yadav opened up on receiving Man of the Match Award following India’s dominating eight-wicket win over West Indies. With the win at the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala,
the hosts have established an early 1-0 lead, and would eye a series win in the second game. The game saw West Indies getting off to a solid start, and took India over 100 deliveries to get their first breakthrough.
However, it didn’t take much time for the Men in Blue to pull things back, as they restricted the Caribbean side below 300-run mark. Kuldeep Yadav was awarded the Player of the Match for his heroics as he registered figures of 4-40. However, following the game, the spinning wizard opened up on the award and said that it felt awkward to receive the honour, given the way Virat Kohli batted.
“I actually loved the batting from Shubman and Virat bhai, it was a special inning from them. It feels awkward to receive the Man of the Match award, seeing the way Virat bhai batted, it was an outstanding inning,” Yadav said.
Notably, Kohli reached a historic milestone on Sunday, as he joined legendary Sachin Tendulkar as the only second member in the 15,000 ODI runs club. While Little Master had taken 377 runs to reach the milestone, Kohli took 303 innings. Not only this, but later, he went on to hit his 86th international and 55th ODI century.
The 37-year-old remained unbeaten on 139, and smashed a flying six, his ninth for the night, to guide the side to an eight-wicket with with 50 balls to spare.
For his controlled and economical spell, Kuldeep Yadav bags the Player of the Match award 🏅👏
Relive his spell ▶️https://t.co/cpy8uh3PK1 #TeamIndia | #INDvWI | @mflone_ | @imkuldeep18 pic.twitter.com/3QM9EVC4UQ
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 27, 2026
Always feels nice when you enjoy your bowling: Kuldeep Yadav reflects on his performance and being in and out of the team
The spinner also opened up on being in and out of the team time and time again, as well as his performance in the fixture. He said that delivering such spells boosts confidence, while stating that being relaxed automatically helps in performance.
“It always feels nice when you enjoy your bowling and that’s where you achieve your best, and when you are enjoying your bowling, when you are a bit relaxed as well, then your performance comes at peak. So, sometimes it feels to get that confidence back, you have to have a bowling spell like this, definitely, you grow your confidence,” he stated.
However, Yadav seems to be self-aware and stated that he needs to improve as a spinner. He also emphasized on maintaining a rhythm that helps in bowling a more impactful spell. “I still believe there’s a lot to improve as a spinner and I believe the rhythm, it’s all about your flow, bowling flow, and when you are comfortable and when you are in good flow, then everything looks so good. I personally feel there’s still a chance to improve, and I’m going to stick with the same rhythm, that’s the most important thing. Any format, it’s just you feel comfortable in your rhythm and in your flow.”
