“He’s a very professional athlete” - India bowling coach heaps praise on Kuldeep Yadav ahead of Asia Cup 2025

Team India bowling coach Morne Morkel has revealed that the Indian attacking spinner Kuldeep Yadav has been working very hard for the forthcoming Asia Cup 2025 campaign, which is set to start on Tuesday, September 9, in the UAE.

Speaking to the media, Morkel stated that despite having limited game time after not getting a chance in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England, Kuldeep has consistently put in the work and bowled a lot of overs in the nets.

"I think he’s a very professional athlete. Since the England series, even with limited game time, he has consistently put in the work and bowled a lot of overs. He knows what it takes to prepare himself for T20 cricket. All we can control are our training sessions—making sure they’re purposeful and goal-oriented. From there, it’s up to the players to go out and lead with the ball,” said Morkel in a press conference.

Notably, Kuldeep, who was part of the Test squad for the five-match series against England, couldn’t make it to the final playing XI in all five Tests of the series, which resulted in lack of game time for the spinner ahead of the Asia Cup 2025.

Nevertheless, Kuldeep has an impressive T20I record, having picked up 69 wickets in his career from 40 matches at an average of 14.07 with two five-wicket hauls to his name. It’s worth noting that Kuldeep played a pivotal role in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 win with 10 wickets from five innings at an average of 13.90 and an economy of 6.95.

India’s squad for Asia Cup: Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.

Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel.

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