'Chinaman' from UP finding his feet

CHENNAI: India have produced classical left-arm spinners over the years, but a chinaman bowler is a rarity. Kuldeep Yadav, playing for the Uttar Pradesh XI in the ongoing Buchi Babu tournament, belongs to that rare breed.
He played quite a few matches for the India U-19 team and was also a member of the Mumbai Indians squad, even though he didn't make the playing XI. The real battle for this unorthodox left-armer starts now, as he tries to find a way into the UP Ranji Trophy team.
Kuldeep, not surprisingly, idolizes Shane Warne. "The amount of turn and control he had was amazing. I had the opportunity of interacting with him a few years ago. He asked me to stick to the basics and keep it simple, which is what I am trying to do," the 18-year-old said.
While classical left-arm spinners predominantly use their fingers, chinaman bowlers are wrist spinners and their stock ball turns from off to leg for the right-hander. It's the same as the right-arm offspinner, but the angle and the amount of turn generated by the chinaman bowler can make it difficult for the batsman.
Interestingly, Kuldeep dreamt of becoming a fast bowler, but his coach Kapil Pandey thought otherwise. "During a trial at the local academy, my coach (Kapil) felt I should concentrate on bowling spin since I wasn't tall enough to be a pacer. I was pretty upset (on being told to bowl spin). However, as fate would have it —as I bowled spin, my action proved to be just right for delivering the chinaman. My coach was surprised, and he encouraged me to build on it," Kuldeep revealed.
"I spent hours watching the videos of Warne, studying the action and each aspect of his bowling. I literally modeled myself on Warne. I also closely followed Brad Hogg (the Aussie chinaman bowler) who has a deceptive wrong 'un," Kuldeep said. The wrong 'un of a chinaman bowler goes from leg to off for the right-hander and if well concealed, it can be a big weapon.