Yadav made his first-class debut for Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy. (Source: PTI)

Kuldeep Yadav has always turned heads with ball in hand being a member of that rare breed, the chinaman bowler. Of late the 19-year-old from Kanpur has also left a number of batsmen with their heads spinning after being befuddled by his unorthodox brand of spin. While Yadav spent both matches he was with the Indian ODI squad on the bench, he subsequently made his first-class debut for Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy.

Here he speaks to The Indian Express about the week spent in the company of MS Dhoni & Co, the challenge of bowling chinaman at first-class level and his outings against Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh. Excerpts:

How much of a learning curve was the time you spent in the Indian dressing-room during the ODI series against West Indies?

Ravi sir (Shastri) always used to ask me in between matches, “What would you have done, had you been bowling in that situation?” He was constantly trying to read my mind. Meanwhile, Duncan (Fletcher) told me that I needed to change my feet position a bit so that I can get behind the ball well.

How disappointed were you by the end though having not got a single game?

I was disappointed for a while but I am ready to wait for my time. I feel like I have done reasonably well so far with whatever chances have come my way. But I have to do more. If I wasn’t capable of handling pressure I wouldn’t have made it this far. Those who haven’t seen much of me won’t know that I can bat too. I might not be a big-hitter but I can bat according to the situation. I know my time will come.

What are the challenges of being a chinaman bowler?

On the face of it, it’s just a mirror-image of bowling leg-spin, but it does attract a lot of attention. As a wrist-spinner you don’t have the liberty to buy time in terms of settling down for a spell. You have to find your line and length straightaway and make sure you are consistently hitting a spot. Only once I’m confident of my accuracy, can I start trying my variations.

You recently made your first-class debut against a lethal, star-studded North Zone batting line-up. How did you cope with that?

It was an important match for me. I had never played a first-class game before. And then I had to contend with batsmen like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir, whom I have grown up watching on TV. That way, I couldn’t have asked for a better debut.

Apart from being very experienced the likes of Sehwag, Yuvraj and Gambhir are also terrific players against spin. My general plan is always to restrict runs. The moment you stop their run-flow, you have a chance of getting a wicket. I managed to keep Yuvi bhai quiet for a while and then I slipped in a flipper. He missed the line of the ball, and it went and struck his stumps. Apart from being a massive wicket for me, it was also a crucial breakthrough for my team (Central Zone) as North were cruising towards their target at that stage.

How did you deal with the nerves on the eve of the match? Did you even sleep at all?

I was not nervous at all and took it as I would any game. In fact the only time I have had a sleepless night was when we were playing Kings XI Punjab and I had to go up against Viru bhai. I dared to bring the field inside the circle for him. I had bowled to Yuvi bhai in the nets at NCA earlier and played under Gauti bhai for KKR.

Coaches and experts always talk about there being a huge gulf between the under-19 level and first-class cricket. Have you felt it at all?

In first-class cricket, like I realized, you are up against world-class players like Viru bhai, Gauti bhai and Yuvi bhai. The margin for error is minimal. A small error here or there, and they will make you pay for it. In junior cricket, you could get a wicket at times even while bowling full but the same ball will cost you six runs once you take the step up.

How do you plan to replicate your success from the shorter formats in the longer format?

In T20 cricket, you hardly get time and if you cannot think on your feet, you will be taken to the cleaners. But you can always make a comeback in four-day games. Bowlers have enough time to recover from a tough spell here and there. If one session goes bad, then I can always make up for it in the next.