SHANE Warne never quite mastered India himself, but on day one of the fourth Test in Dharamsala he helped a 22-year-old debutant from Kanpur rout Australia.
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The Test great was snuggled up in a corporate box at Etihad Stadium watching St Kilda in the AFL, while all the way up in the foot of the Himalayas, Indian left arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav followed Warne’s instructions to perfection to ironically dismantle his mentor’s own countrymen in the series deciding Test.
Warne is yet to work with Aussie leggie Mitchell Swepson, but he has managed to teach wrist-spinning leftie Kuldeep the ‘flipper’ which claimed David Warner and sparked a major collapse.
Kuldeep Yadav celebrates the wicket of Glenn Maxwell with Umesh Yadav.Source:AP
Cricket Australia and Warne have never quite been able to come to an agreement on coaching, and the spin king’s wisdom has instead been used to inspire a fairy tale story from India.
“Did you see the first wicket (of Warner)? That wasn’t a ‘chinaman’, it was a flipper which I learnt from Shane Warne,” said Kuldeep after his four-wicket haul on day one.
“Learning from Warne and then getting out his countryman is great thing.
“My idol was Warne and I have followed him since childhood. I only watch his videos and it was a dream come true when I met him.
“I couldn’t believe I was speaking to my idol and sharing my thoughts on bowling and what all I should be doing.
“I did exactly what he told me to do. He has promised that he will have another session with me in near future.”
Kuldeep insists he didn’t know he was making his debut until he arrived at the ground, but said several chats with the man he was replacing, Virat Kohli, helped arm him with confidence.
Not even the prospect of bowling to the No.1 batsman in the world Steve Smith – who is at the peak of his powers – could rattle the diminutive battler who no one gave a chance of playing this series in an attack featuring the most devastating spin duo in the world Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja.
“Actually I bowled to Smith for the first time and I didn’t have any difficulty as he wasn’t playing any strokes against me,” said Kuldeep.
“Maybe he didn’t want to take any chance against me and was depending on singles. Maybe since wickets were falling at the other end, he was being cautious.
Peter Handscomb was no match for Kuldeep Yadav.Source:AFP
“I was never nervous against Smith. From childhood I have been told that a spinner is someone who would take wickets even if he gets hit. My theory remains the same.
“All four are precious scalps and the first one (Warner) is very special. The next two (Handscomb and Maxwell) were satisfying as you got it exactly how you had visualised their dismissal.”
Kohli ran water to Kuldeep after he took Warner’s wicket, and put his mind straight back on the game.
“He congratulated me on my maiden wicket and reminded me of our plans about various batsmen,” he said.
“If your captain is not playing yet motivating from outside, it can’t get better than this.”
Originally published as How Warnie created Indian destroyer
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