TimesofIndia.com in London: There has been a lot of chatter around Kuldeep Yadav’s absence from India’s Playing XI ever since the side landed in England but it seems to have died down a bit after the historic win at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground. The move of depth over a proper wicket-taking bowler worked for Shubman Gill & Co. as Washington Sundar scored valuable runs lower down the order and did what the management expected out of him. Two days before the Lord’s Test, Kuldeep resumed his preparations with two rounds of gentle jogs and was back doing what he enjoys the most – give the ball a rip. On the bench for the first two games, there has been no drop in the intensity with which he prepared for a fixture and Tuesday was no different. The series is locked at 1-1 before the two sides go head-to-head at the Home of Cricket and former England cricketer and current Delhi Capitals mentor Kevin Pietersen feels India need to play the chinaman.“They need to play him. India lost a Test match, won a Test match and I think they are missing some sort of variation. I think they are missing variation,” Pietersen tells TimesofIndia.com on the sidelines of “YOUWECAN CHARITY GALA” in London.Pietersen reveals he had a lot of discussions with the left-armer regarding bowling in England during his time with Delhi Capitals but didn’t divulge details.
“I sat with him a couple of times when I was mentor with the Delhi Capitals, and I discussed bowling in England with him. I discussed tactics. I had a lot of chat on how to bowl and where to bowl. We spent a lot of time and it will just be nice to see him play. It would be lovely to see him play. He loves bowling, he loves taking wickets. And I want to see my buddy play. I don’t like my buddies on the bench,” adds Pietersen.
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The last few months have seen a lot of mutual respect and admiration from both Pietersen and KL Rahul, and it continued when the DC mentor was asked about the batter’s recent form.Quiz: Who’s that IPL player?“He is a star. He is an absolute star. I don’t get the criticism that he had before. I have always thought that he is a wonderful player. And he showed it. The way he led our batting from the forefront. He batted at No.4 but I don’t think it was his favourite position in the IPL but he did and scored all those runs. But when he opened he got a hundred for us at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Home game I think against Gujarat Titans. He is just quality, he just oozes class. When he scores runs, I am not surprised,” says Pietersen.
