Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra showered praise on Kuldeep Yadav after his match-winning spell against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. Yadav returned with fine bowling figures of 3-20 in his quota of four overs to restrict the opposition to 167.
The left-arm spinner was quick to make an impact as he dismissed Marcus Stoinis in his first over and then got the big wicket of Nicholas Pooran on the next ball. Yadav also accounted for LSG captain KL Rahul, who was looking good after scoring 39.
Furthermore, Khaleel Ahmed plumbed Quinton de Kock and Devdutt Padikkal in front of the wickets in the Powerplay overs.
“I got my first performer of the day because he was also the Player of the Match. Khaleel (Ahmed) started it, which he always does nowadays, and Kuldeep Yadav bowled googly after googly. First (Marcus) Stoinis tried to hit him and he got out,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“Then Nicholas Pooran fell for a first-ball duck. We are saying that he should come early but that was too early. 7.4 overs – that was Ayush Badoni’s time to come but he didn’t come. Pooran came and he got out. Then you used your substitute as well in the form of Deepak Hooda. Kuldeep Yadav picked up three wickets in all,” Chopra elaborated.
LSG found themselves tottering at 94-7 but Ayush Badoni was able to take them to a fighting score of 167 with his unbeaten knock of 55 off 35 balls. The renowned commentator lauded the youngster for scoring his maiden fifty of the season.
“These many runs wouldn’t have been scored, the way they (LSG) batted, which includes Stoinis, Pooran, Devdutt Padikkal, and the sort of shot Deepak Hooda played to get out. So things were going extremely ordinary and a special knock came from Ayush Badoni’s bat,” he observed.
“He is my second performer of the day. He bailed the team out when they were stuck. He played some big shots as well. While Deepak Hooda played a rash shot, Ayush Badoni kept playing steadily by taking singles and doubles. He said that things might change if he played till the end and they actually changed,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.
Lucknow Super Giants will next take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday.
