'I had a chat with KL' - Kuldeep Yadav reveals discussion with KL Rahul after four-wicket Ranchi outing

India spinner Kuldeep Yadav has provided insights into how he implemented the plans he discussed with KL Rahul in the first ODI of the three-matrch series against South Africa. Kuldeep conceded 68 runs

in his 10-over spell and scalped four wickets in what turned out to be a match-defining spell.

The left-arm wrist-spinner stated that he did not stick to one particular type of delivery for too long and kept mixing things up so that the batters will not feel settled. 

“When I came after the first spell, I had a chat with KL. We wanted to attack despite it being tough as wickets were important. I was mixing up the scrambled seam and seam-up deliveries. Just tried to go back of a length; it was easy to connect off a full length,” stated Kuldeep during the post-match presentation.

The 30-year-old also mentioned that it was tough to grip the ball because of the dew. Kuldeep remarked that despite this, he did not rely on bowling only flat deliveries.

“It was very challenging — the ball was getting really wet. We kept putting dust on it and asked for a replacement. Bosch and Jansen were playing great innings, so we wanted a wicket. I bowled a few balls slower through the air. You can’t rely only on stock balls; you have to mix things up,” he added

All four of Kuldeep's wickets (Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Matthew Breetzke and Prenelan Subrayen) were set players at the crease and his spell certainly proved the difference between the two sides. Notably, this was Kuldeep's eighth four-wicket haul in ODIs. 

Meanwhile, the remaining six wickets were picked up by fast bowlers as South Africa were bowled out for 332 in 49.2 overs in pursuit of the 350-run target.

Momentum will be on India's side  going into the second and third ODIs, which will be played in Raipur (December 3) and Visakhapatnam (December 6) respectively.