India's highly-rated left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav said on Saturday that deceiving the batsmen with flight and his variations is what he looks forward to whenever he steps on the field and that he doesn't believe in mystery.
At a time when mystery spinners are getting million-dollar deals in Twenty20 leagues across the globe, Kuldeep, a chinaman bowler - one of the rare breeds of spinners in world cricket - says it's important for any bowler, let alone spinner to stick to the basics.
Kuldeep had to wait until the last Test match of the ongoing series to get into the playing XI as India had gone in with two spinners at the Sydney Cricket Ground, which is one of Australia's most spinner-friendly venues.
His long wait extended until the third day of the Test as India amassed 622 runs after batting over the last two days. However, when Kuldeep got the ball in hand, he showcased why he is regarded as one of best wrist-spinners going around.
The left-arm spinner snared three crucial wickets, including that of Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and captain Tim Paine, as Australia ended a rain-hit day reeling at 236 for 6.
"For any spinner, it's important to stick to the basics. Deceiving the batsmen and hitting the right areas is important, as far as I am concerned. I don't believe in mystery. If you're good enough to deceive the batsman in the air, that's more than enough for me. I am looking forward to do that only," Kuldeep told the media in Sydney on Saturday.
Very important for me to learn from Ashwin and Jadeja: Kuldeep
Stressing that he is constantly learning in order to make sure he is one step ahead of the batsman all the time, Kuldeep said he kept himself busy and motivated during the first three Tests by learning from senior India spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
"When you have got two of the best spinners - R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja - you get a lot of motivation from them only. They are the ones who keep pushing me during the nets. They tell me that I have to bowl in certain areas. It's very important to learn from them, they have played a lot of cricket," Kuldeep added.
Kuldeep, who is only five-Tests old, revealed he didn't have to change a lot to suit the conditions in Australia. The 24-year-old, who picked a bucket load of wickets for India in the limited-overs series, though conceded he was a bit nervous before coming on to bowl in his first Test Down Under.
"To be very honest, I didn't change anything [to adapt to the wickets that offer extra bounce]. Obviously, I was a bit nervous since this was my first Test match of the series. Wickets don't make a lot of difference to me - be it a turner or a flat one. The third day of a match is the best day to bowl. I got a good opportunity. I wanted to hit the right areas the right lines. I have a lot of variations, so I need to bowl the right lines," Kuldeep said.
Kuldeep gave India their first breakthrough by snapping a dangerous 72-run opening stand when he deceived Usman Khawaja with a wrong'un in the morning session of Day 3.
"I was just bowling with the normal field. I was planning to bowl wrong'un. I knew that he was going to come after me, maybe hit through mid-wicket or mid-on. So I was very lucky that wrong'un pitched in the perfect area and went straight to the mid-wicket fielder," Kuldeep added.
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