Indian wrist spinner made a meal of the English batting line up in the 1st T20I between India and England and England has now resorted to a unique bowling machine called ‘Merlyn’ to prepare for Kuldeep Yadav ahead of the India-England 2nd T20I.
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The England bating collapsed as they could not pick Kuldeep at all. On the very first delivery that Jonny Bairstow faced, he got a wrong one from Kuldeep Yadav. Bairstow did not read the ball from the hand and tried to go for a booming drive and was stumped.
On the very next delivery Joe Root received another beauty from Kuldeep Yadav to which Root danced outside the crease. The ball hit MS Dhoni’s gloves and bounced towards his helmet. However the veteran keeper collected the ball in time and got the bails off before Root could ground is back.
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Kuldeep also bagged the Man of the Match award in the 1st T20I against Ireland. Belonging to a rare breed of chinaman bowlers, Yadav is expected to have a very successful England tour.
Talking about the machine, English keeper-batsman Jos Buttler said, “One thing we can do is with Merlyn, to replicate the angle. It’s a very good machine to get used to that. But it was the first time some guys have faced Kuldeep and it may take one or two games, plus video. It’s about understanding that you shouldn’t get too flustered.
“With spin it can all happen quickly, suddenly you have faced a few balls and aren’t off the mark, so it’s not allowing that to affect you. You have to get used to the action and once you have faced them a bit more it gets easier. You have a bit more trust and might pick up a few cues.”
