NEW DELHI: “Pakistan ko dekhte hi uska khoon khaulta hai. Pakistan ne bachche aur nausikhiyon ki team bheji thi iss baar (His blood boils the moment he sees Pakistan. Pakistan sent a team of kids and inexperienced players this time),” Kuldeep Yadav‘s coach Kapil Dev Pandey said while boarding the Shramshakti Express from Delhi to Kanpur, praising his student who played a stellar role in India’s Asia Cup 2025 triumph. India defeated Pakistan by five wickets in the final at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.Pandey was on call with Kuldeep every evening during the Asia Cup and long discussions happened before the matches vs Pakistan. Knowing that Kuldeep rarely shows his anger on the field, Pandey always tried to keep him calm while letting him unleash his aggression against Pakistan.
An ex-Navy man himself, Pandey took a big session with Kuldeep before the Asia Cup. Kuldeep had been part of India’s England tour squad for five Tests but didn’t play a single match. He carried drinks, relayed Gautam Gambhir’s messages, participated in team huddles, and applauded his teammates’ milestones.
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But the Asia Cup saw a different Kuldeep—rattling the opposition and taking wickets whenever his team needed breakthroughs. He claimed 17 wickets at an average of 9.29 in a batter-dominated format.
“Maine Kuldeep ko bola tera coach ek fauji hai. Discipline mere blood mein hai. Discipline se khelna. Pakistan se haarna nahi hai. Kuldeep yahi baat hamesha bolta hai. England tour ke baad wo bhookha baitha tha. Bas uska gussa control kar rakha tha maine. Maine kaha gussa bowling se dikhana. Usne kaafi videos dekhi in batters ki. Wo opponents ke stance ke hisaab se gaya. Uska ek formula tha jyada flight nahi deni. Jyada flight matlab jyada time batterko. Bass stance ko nazar mein rakha usne (I told Kuldeep that his coach is a soldier. Discipline is in my blood. Play with discipline. You must not lose to Pakistan. Kuldeep always remembers this. After the England tour, he was frustrated, and I just kept his anger in check. I told him to show his anger through bowling. He watched a lot of videos of the batters and bowled according to their stance. His formula was not to give too much flight—too much flight gives the batter more time. He just focused on the stance),” Pandey said.In the Champions Trophy 2025, Kuldeep took three wickets against Pakistan, including two back-to-back. In the Asia Cup group stage, he claimed three wickets for just 18 runs. In the final, Kuldeep’s lethal spell turned the game.Introduced after the Powerplay when Pakistan’s openers were attacking, his first two overs went for 11 and 13 runs. After discussing strategy with Suryakumar Yadav, he adjusted his plan.Returning in the 13th over, he got Saim Ayub. In his final over, Kuldeep dismantled Pakistan’s middle order, taking Salman Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Faheem Ashraf in one over, flipping the match.
“We always follow the strategy of staying cool and relaxed against Pakistan. Focus on their patterns and don’t take pressure. If someone provokes you, don’t respond; maintain your focus. Kuldeep did exactly that. He practiced the big break ball extensively for the Asia Cup. It went perfectly against Babar Azam in the 2019 World Cup. He used the same ball against Sri Lanka. Later, similar balls slipped from Sanju Samson’s hands,” the coach said.“In T20s, sometimes we use aggressive spin to confuse the batsman. Kuldeep was aggressive against Pakistan, but mentally too. He couldn’t stop smiling. He said Pakistan sent kids to play. If Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were there, the competition would have been different,” he added.On Pakistan’s team, Pandey recalled a conversation with Kuldeep where the chinaman termed the current lot as school kids.“Pakistan didn’t include their trump card, Shadab Khan. He is currently Pakistan’s most dangerous spinner and a good batsman too. Kuldeep bola ye school ke bachhe utha ke le aaye,” the coach said.
