India’s chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has said he has begun practicing but is ensuring not to use saliva after the ICC last month banned its use to shine the ball. Kuldeep hopes the ICC comes up with an alternative to saliva but until that is done, the left-arm wrist spinner said it is important to gradually inculcate the practice so that players can entirely get used to it when cricket resumes in full throttle.
“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,” Kuldeep told PTI.
Kuldeep revealed he has started training twice a day and is practicing regularly in order to get into rhythm. Kuldeep is the second Indian cricketer after Shardul Thakur to resume outdoor training, after the fast bowler trained with domestic players at a local ground in Boisar in Maharashtra’s Palghar district last month. Once cricket is up and running for good, Kuldeep said he is eagerly looking forward to the IPL, despite the future of the tournament looking unclear.
“I have started training at the Rovers ground in Lal Bangla area. Infact, 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 comeback in the evening. From 4 pm to 8 pm, I am regularly bowling in the nets,” Kuldeep said.
“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. Once competitive cricket resumes, I would prefer playing IPL. That is in case normalcy returns.”
