Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir suggested on Friday that rookie Kuldeep Yadav should be protected from the spotlight, allowing him perform without the pressure of spearheading a a spin attack, reported PTI.
“We should not talk about Kuldeep a lot. He should be left alone to hone his skills. We are not going to put too much pressure on him as we have other bowlers who can take that pressure. Let him enjoy his game. We want him to bowl freely. He is one of our attacking options. He will be a matchwinner for us,” Gambhir said.
Yadav has been in focus since his game changing four-wicket haul on debut against Australia in Dharamsala last month. However, the former India opener is a bit worried that in-form pacer Umesh Yadav is being rested because of a hip injury,
“Umesh, we thought if he could start, it would have been a big advantage, but it gives others an opportunity. We have got a pretty good bowling attack, so hopefully the guys can deliver,” the 35-year-old said.
Gambhir clarified Umesh’s case is more about workload of workload management rather than fitness, “At the moment, I can say that he is available. There is just that workload issue and no fitness issue. He is going to be available for the third game which is going to be good for us,” he added.
Gambhir expected high-scoring opening encounter against Suresh Raina’s Gujarat Lions on Friday. “The wicket is good and high scoring. It won’t spin a lot and we expected that. The opposition won’t give us a spinning wicket,” Gambhir said.
