Bahutule backs Kuldeep ahead of second Test vs Sri Lanka

"He has been bowling extremely well": Sairaj Bahutule backs Kuldeep ahead of second Test against Sri Lanka

Colombo, August 21

" He's been bowling extremely well. It's just that the situations that arose in Galle, he had to play a different role. So that's all he had to adapt to, and he tried his best to adapt to that role and tried to execute as much as possible," Bahutule said during the pre-match press conference.

Kuldeep was seen bowling with a flatter trajectory in Galle compared to his usual approach of giving the ball more air. Bahutule said the change was based on the conditions and the requirements of different stages of the game.

"We had to see how the trajectory or the speeds work in every session. And as the days went by, and as there was a demand for different types of speeds and different types of trajectories, he definitely was making an effort to bowl that," he said.

Bahutule added that Kuldeep was operating according to his strengths as a wrist-spinner, despite the wicket becoming slower as the Test progressed.

"He was playing his role. Each bowler has his own strengths. He was operating as a wrist-spinner in a way, where obviously the wicket got slower and slower each day. But I'm sure he was bowling the way he normally bowls," he added.

The India spin bowling coach also spoke highly of young spinner Manav Suthar, saying the youngster has developed a good understanding of his bowling through his experience in domestic cricket.

"He's somebody who, since he's been bowling, has bowled a lot in domestic cricket in the Ranji Trophy. He's done the hard yards, and he's come into international cricket. So he understands his bowling well," Bahutule said.

He said the focus with Suthar is on helping him understand how to adapt to different conditions, pitches and batters without overcomplicating his technique.

"What we try to do is see how we can get that awareness of bowling in different conditions, different pitches, different batters, left-hand, right-hand, what is the need at that particular time, what would be the most effective way and what will be the ideal fields," he said.

Bahutule praised Suthar's accuracy and ability to maintain the desired lengths, saying the spinner is steadily evolving at the international level.

"He's very accurate; his trajectories are just getting better and better, puts in a lot on the ball, the revs are good, and he is somebody who's like a banker for us, consistently being in the lengths which we want to," he added.

"We keep it very simple, to be honest, not complicate things and work on his strengths," Bahutule said.

Coming to the first Test, India defeated Sri Lanka by 165 runs, with Manav Suthar's maiden 10-wicket haul and Devdutt Padikkal's 167 in the first innings playing key roles in the victory.

— ANI