'In ODIs when you get hit, the plan is to force the batsman to rotate the strike'
Kuldeep Yadav talks about the lessons he learnt from being dropped during the IPL, and his aim to become the fastest Indian to 100 ODI wickets during this World Cup
Last year [in England] I just played in three ODIs. This time I will have more time to showcase my skills. Of course, it will be a challenge and there will be pressure, considering it's the World Cup. I have a nervous excitement to play in such a big event for the first time.
Yes, yes (laughs), that's on my mind. I will become the first Indian if I manage that feat. I will try to get them as soon as possible. That is my goal. And if you set yourself a goal and work towards it, put in the effort, motivate yourself, then you can achieve it possibly.
I went back to Kanpur and spent ten days with my personal coach [Kapil Pandey]. I strengthened my basics and focused on my skills.
You can say that. In the two years I have been playing, everything was working nicely. But I now want to look forward to the World Cup.

It took me a couple of days. [But] it's the T20 format. The Eden [Gardens] wicket was very good for batting. It's not like I was bowling badly, or bowling half-volleys or full tosses. I was bowling well, sticking to my strengths. If I flighted the ball, it was just coming nicely onto the bat. People are saying I was bowling badly, but I actually did not give away many runs other than that over where I went for 25 runs [against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Kolkata]. Before that, I think my economy was about 7.3, which is acceptable in T20. And that, too, bowling on the Eden wicket. [Before the game against Royal Challengers he had taken three wickets at an economy rate of 7.82 in the IPL. After that spell of 59 runs in four overs, his ER rose to 8.66.]
I felt so bad because I did not bowl according to my plan. In my mind I had thought I should bowl round the wicket [to Moeen Ali], but then I felt I could possibly bowl better from over the wicket because the leg-stump boundary was too short, about 55 yards. If it landed in the slot, he might hit it for a six. Eventually when I tried [to bowl from round the stumps], he got out. That is why I was disappointed. Why didn't I come round the wicket earlier? I knew I could get him out anytime. It's not that he hit any extraordinary shots. He did hit me nicely off the penultimate delivery, but otherwise his strokes were landing well inside the boundary of a small ground on a flat wicket. DK bhai [Dinesh Karthik, Knight Riders' captain] came to me before the final delivery of the over and asked me to pitch from the round the wicket. I was just sad that I did not stick to the plan I'd had originally in my mind.
No, no, I was not crying. Boss, I was just a bit emotional. I was feeling totally hopeless. I felt like, "What have I done? Because of this over, the game changed." They were like 120 after 15 overs and suddenly they were 150 an over later and everything had changed.
It was a more of a disappointment, because if you know you are good enough and still you do not get the opportunity then you feel bad. Yes, if there are better players than you playing, then that's fine. But if you feel you are the best and you should be playing, then you feel bad. The team management told me it was purely because of the combinations that I was not being played.
I enjoyed the free time. I was focusing on the skills and the little things that were not working for me. I worked with my coach as well as Karl Rowe, who is a consultant at KKR.
Definitely. The wicket was very flat and in favour of batsmen. If you have three spinners, you cannot play them all. If you see, visiting teams have usually played just one spinner [at Eden Gardens]. If the Eden pitch had been like it was one or two seasons ago, then things would have been different. We were playing at home, but it did not feel like we were bowling in home conditions.
If you try something and you get hit, you can't do anything. He [Kohli] did hit me for a couple of good fours. In T20 cricket I don't attack too much because you can get hit on a flat wicket. You need to bowl tight. But in ODIs, when you get hit, the plan is to figure out how to force the batsman to rotate the strike so you can bowl at the second batsman to create pressure.
Bilkul, bilkul. [Certainly] It is not that DK is not attacking. He was a very attacking captain. The situation to attack when I was bowling did not come because we had not bowled well with the new ball and did not create any early pressure. Whenever I was bowling, there were not many wickets on the scoreboard. Earlier in the Powerplay, we used to bowl spinners previously, but that was not the case this time [due to the flat pitch]. But, yes, if you have an attacking field, it does help.

I could have been a bit more strong mentally. I could have increased my focus a bit. I lacked the focus and the planning - that was my big learning.
I was working on stuff like flight, making the ball dip - those are my strengths. The only way to regain form is to work in the nets, bowling two to three hours. I bowled a lot to get my basics right.
Yes, you can say that. In the IPL I was a bit slow. The more rotations and revs the ball has, the more drift I can get. That is another thing I worked on during the break after the IPL.
Yes, that is a fact. When I am tired, the effort does not come through and that makes a difference to the way the ball comes out of the hand and whether it is effective.
Legspin. It comes during the match. It is not planned. Take the wickets of Joe Root and [Jonny] Bairstow in the Manchester T20I where I had them stumped. In the Nottingham ODI, I dismissed them again, this time lbw. I did have a plan for both, but they had not played against me before, so it worked. Now they know me, so I am prepared with another plan.

It is a very big thing when your captain believes in you. Virat has always had belief in [Yuzvendra] Chahal and me. He believes both of us can take wickets at any time in a match, that we can change the game at any time. Even if we have a bad match or if we go for runs, he does not say anything. He trusts us, gives us the freedom to bowl the way we want to. He just says: I want wickets. He tells us that even if we go for five or ten runs extra, it's not an issue as long as we are getting wickets. When he believes that you are one of his main players, it is a good sign that your captain is supporting you.
Firstly, I need to keep working and focusing on my drills. Then it will become easier for me to bowl in the matches. I cannot compromise on the drills. When I forget my drills, it starts affecting my bowling, like using my shoulder [in a delivery].
Definitely. After 40 overs, the field is a bit more open. It's a bit easier to bowl and the batsmen are taking more chances. I have bowled at the death in the IPL and that is an option.
Just to win the World Cup (laughs). Of course, we have to take one game at a time, but that is the team goal.
Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor at ESPNcricinfo