Kuldeep Yadav, an Indian spinner, revealed how difficult it was for him to move on from the terrible 2023 World Cup final loss to Australia.
India entered the competition as strong favorites to win their third ODI World Cup, and they performed as such the entire time. The team, captained by Rohit Sharma, dominated the semi-final matchup against New Zealand as well as all nine league-stage matches.
They lost their dream run, though, when Australia upset them by six wickets in the championship match to win the World Series for a record sixth time.
Kuldeep Yadav revealed to media after the T20I series against South Africa that moving on from the World Cup final had been difficult.
“First week or ten days after the final was the most difficult. It was not easy to get that thought away from my mind. Whenever I was waking up, the thought of losing the World Cup final was haunting me. I keep thinking about what I could have done different. Cricket is very unpredictable, most of the time you don’t get the desired result. You learn and move forward.”
Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep did not take a wicket in the summit match, but he was quite well in the World Cup. With an economy of less than 4.50 and an average of 28.26, the 29-year-old claimed 15 wickets in 11 outings.
Kuldeep also formed a part of the Indian team that lost in the same to New Zealand at the 2019 ICC ODI World Cup semifinals.
“I just wanted the team to win which is more important” – Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav is back among the wickets, taking a second T20I fifer in the series decider against South Africa in Johannesburg.
The 29-year-old delivered a burst of 5/17 in 2.5 overs to enable India finish with a 106-run triumph. Trailing 0-1 and facing a must-win position to break the series deadlock.
Interestingly, it was Kuldeep’s 29th birthday. The celebrated spinner made it a memorable one by becoming only the second Indian bowler, after Bhuvneshwar Kumar, to accomplish multiple five-wicket feats in T20Is. He achieved this as the first Indian spinner.
“It turned out to be a special day. I have never thought about taking five wickets. I just wanted the team to win which is more important. I was concerned about my bowling because I was playing after sometime, so wanted to get my rhythm. It was perfect today. The ball was coming out well from the hand and the conditions too suited the spinners a bit.”
Kuldeep Yadav
His other five-wicket haul (5/24) in T20Is occurred against England in Manchester in 2018, when India won by eight wickets.
The Men in Blue will conclude their white-ball part of the South African trip with three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) before the two-Test series.