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Kuldeep Yadav praised the Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav for his breathtaking hundred against South Africa in the third T20I, which helped the team to level the series 1-1. The 29-year-old, who had picked up a five-wicket haul to clean up the South African tail, called the 106-run victory for India as his biggest birthday gift.
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The left-arm wrist spinner, who had turned 29 years of age on December 14, 2023, was in astonishing form with the ball in hand at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg during the third and deciding match of the T20I series. He picked up a five-wicket haul in just 12 balls, scalping for David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, and Lizaard Williams to take India over the line for an important win away from home.
At the post-match press conference, before talking about his accomplishment, Kuldeep Yadav stated that he liked the batting of his captain Suryakumar Yadav, describing the conditions as tough for batting. He was quoted as saying, “I mean mujhe Surya bhai ki batting bahut achi lag i. Wo sabse bada (birthday) gift tha ki jis tarah se wo batting kar rahe the. Wicket utna easy nahi tha batting ke liye aur difficult thoda sa wicket tha (I really liked the batting of Surya bhai I mean. That was the biggest (birthday) gift, the way he was batting. The wicket wasn’t easy to bat on and it was a bit difficult).”
Watch the video of Kuldeep Yadav here:
“Jis tarah se unhone shots khele, towards the last jis tarah se unhone batting ki wo wakai lajawab thi aur kafi acha laga dekhne mein (The way he played his shots, the way he batted towards the end, it was quite exquisite, very good to watch),” he added.
Paancho hi important wicket hai: Kuldeep Yadav on his five-wicket haul
After praising Suryakumar Yadav for his breathtaking hundred, Kuldeep Yadav was quick to state the importance of every wicket he picks up in cricket, and it wasn’t any different for the five-wicket haul against South Africa. He said, “Jit gaye aur wicket liye wo sabse bada birthday gift hai. Aur I mean saare important wicket hote hai aap jo bhi cricket khelte hai. Paancho hi, important wicket hai (We won and I took wickets, that’s the biggest birthday gift. And I mean every wicket is important wherever you pick a wicket. All those five wickets are important).”
“Agar five-wicket haul T20 mein le rahe ho toh usse badi kya baat hai (If you are picking up a five-haul in T20 then there is no bigger thing than that),” Kuldeep Yadav added.
