Kuldeep faced a setback last year when he injured his knee at the IPL and underwent surgery in September. It put him out of business for months. He also suffered a hairline fracture in his wrist this year, which forced him out of India’s T20I series against South Africa in June, as well as the subsequent white-ball tournaments in Ireland and England. The time away from the game helped him work on his rhythm, Kuldeep said, and that helped him come back stronger.
“I didn’t know how to deal with not getting enough playing time,” he said after today’s game. “After [knee] After four months of injury lay-off, I realized that I needed to bowl faster and started working on it. I am not afraid of failures now. When you fail, you learn. When I came back to the Indian side in January, I wasn’t afraid to fail. I would enjoy the game. My focus is to keep hitting the good lengths. [Getting] wickets are not in my hands, I just want to bowl in good areas.
“To be honest, when I was injured, when I came back from there, it was very important to understand my rhythm. I was a bit slow. After the operation, I have changed that rhythm, bowling with more effort and more control.”
However, he only featured in one ODI against the West Indies and one T20I against Sri Lanka before the wrist problem pulled him back again. He then played white-ball matches for India in the West Indies and Zimbabwe in August before the New Zealand A challenge.
“Coming back, I bowled well in the IPL [this year] before I got hit in the nets and was out for two months.
“[Later] in the West Indies I bowled really well, and in Zimbabwe too. Accuracy and speed were phenomenal. Then I come back, I have played red ball [against New Zealand A]. I have [also] played two [one-day] game here, in the first game the control was also beautiful. I am very happy.”
Kuldeep said the injuries and subsequent recovery process made him understand himself and his body better. “When you keep playing, you learn. You want to play more games, but it couldn’t happen. I actually didn’t know how to do it.
“The injury was lucky for me. I could understand my body and on the comeback I started thinking about my rhythm. It’s challenging, but you have to see the other part as well… It’s always tough to play for India.”