Kuldeep Yadav Praises Clarity of Communication with Gautam Gambhir During England Bench Time

Kuldeep Yadav, who is making up for lost time in this Asia Cup, has opened up about his time on the England tour, when he couldn't break into the side across five Tests even though the pitches were in his favour. The legspinner called the tour "challenging" but was quick to add that there was "clear communication" with head coach Gautam Gambhir on the team's desire for more batting depth.

"Sometimes, in 3-4 matches, I felt that I could play, but unfortunately, I couldn't play because they wanted batting depth," Kuldeep said in Dubai ahead of India's Asia Cup clash with Oman. "The communication was very clear. I feel that that is a very important thing.

"Gauti's was very straightforward. Sometimes, I felt that I could play, but as you know, because of the batting depth, I couldn't. But it was nothing about skill or batting. I couldn't make a place because of the conditions or the combination."

Kuldeep, who didn't play any cricket for India between their Champions Trophy win and the Asia Cup, spoke about the challenges of not playing regularly and how he tried to put the time on the sidelines to good use, which was to work on his cricket and fitness.

"Challenges are there because when you play your first game after a while, your rhythm is very important. If you play regular games, your rhythm is set," Kuldeep said. "You have an idea of bowling or you have an idea of spending time in the field, how you are reacting on the field.

"It was a very good time for me to work on myself, to improve my fitness and to give more volume to bowling because it is very important. I learned a lot. As a player, you learn a lot when you don't play. When the team reacts to situations, you can judge from the outside. You have a lot of ideas about what you would do, how you'd react if you were in this situation. I got a lot of ideas from there. After that, I played the Duleep Trophy match. I was wicketless. I bowled 35 overs. My rhythm was set there and it was very important for me to bowl there.

"It is very easy to blame someone. And it is very tough to take yourself inside and improve. What am I weak at? What should I work on? How should I become a better player? There are two ways. The player chooses which way he wants to go. But it is very important that you keep working hard, don't leave anything, always keep playing. The game of cricket, it always shows you good days and bad days. But if you don't play, you have time to work on yourself and become a better player when you get a chance.

"This is how the game is. When you fail, you learn. Not every game is perfect for you. Not every game is a failure for you. You have to improve. You have to learn how to be better. Whether you pick five or six wickets, you always have hope that you can do better. Sometimes you get wickets, sometimes you don't."

The legspinner has routinely missed out because of India's desire for batting depth but was prompt to remind that his main job is bowling and picking wickets.

"You should always work on batting. But it is just that bowling is my strength," Kuldeep said. "If I play in any team, I will play as a bowler. My job is to take wickets. If I don't take wickets, there will be no space.

"So it is very important to understand that you play as a proper bowler. Your job is to take wickets for the team. But practice sessions are done to improve any skill. I will continue to work on it. I have learnt that you should work hard in life, rest everything will happen like they are supposed to happen."

The 30-year-old also spoke about how he took inspiration from the "unbelievable" bench strength of various football teams on the tour of England, and how following a different sport kept him going.

"If you follow other sports, you get to know how it feels when a team is performing really well. You see the bench strength of their team, they have some unbelievable bench strength and you focus on them, [how] they are not getting enough time, like 20 minutes, 15 minutes, but they are so good players and can start in any game.

"You see other teams and you see how they play, the big teams especially, and when they play against a small team, how they react, the communication, the final decision-making is so quick. You hardly have enough time to react. Obviously, I play cricket on the field. That's my job. After that, I just enjoy football. There are so many games. You just watch them and enjoy.

"Even in any sport, you just watch them and admire how they play, especially in team games. The communication, the connection between the players, how they lift each other, that's the most important thing."