Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya finds of series against Australia: Sourav Ganguly

Bengaluru, October 3: Former Indian skipper and current president of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) Sourav Ganguly remarked that one of his key gains in the just concluded Puja festival was Kuldeep Yadav’s brilliant bowling and obviously the rise of Hardik Pandya as an all-rounder.

Sourav explained saying, “After a long time Indian team has got a treasure. He is Kuldeep Yadav. I know him from the first IPL. Initially, he was not that mature.

"But in the just concluded series against Australia, I was simply amazed to have watched Kuldeep’s bowling. He is going to be one of the main weapons of Virat Kohli in the coming days.”

When asked about speciality in Kuldeep’s bowling, Ganguly clarified, “His key strength is watching the movement of the batsman till the end. That is why he is able to offer opposition batsmen the variation. Australian batsmen were not at all comfortable against Kuldeep.

"Even batsmen like David Warner, Steve Smith could not cope with Kuldeep’s googly and flippers. Kuldeep has exhibited superb performance with the ball. He has been the discovery of the series.”

But at the same time, former Indian skipper admitted that Kuldeep’s actual test will be in abroad when Indian team will be touring England and South Africa in the winter this year.

Ganguly had same notion on Hardik Pandya and did not hesitate to comment, “Hardik is also a standout in Indian team in recent times. He also has delivered terrific performance with both bat and ball against Australia. Still, I feel series against England and South Africa at their homes will the real test for them.”