Indian spin legend Erapalli Prasanna today (September 22) praised youngster Kuldeep Yadav for his hat-trick against Australia in the second ODI and backed him to succeed in Test cricket too with his "mystery".
Left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep bamboozled Australian batsmen with three wickets in three balls (Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins) at Kolkata's Eden Gardens last night (September 21).
Aided by fine spells of bowling by Kuldeep (3/54), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/9) and Virat Kohli's 92, India won by 50 runs to go 2-0 up in the five-match rubber.
Also read: India-Australia series schedule
The 22-year-old Kuldeep became only the third Indian in ODI history to claim a hat-trick. He joined Chetan Sharma (Vs New Zealand in 1987) and Kapil Dev (Vs Sri Lanka in 1991).
When International Business Times, India contacted 77-year-old Prasanna for his reaction on Kuldeep's feat, he hailed the youngster's "great achievement".
"It is a great achievement for the youngster. To get a hat-trick at any level of cricket is extremely difficult one," he said.
He continued, "For this youngster to do it in only his ninth ODI is creditable. I am sure with this sort of mystery around him it will take him quite a long way. One big factor is he has to keep his head on his shoulders. That is the only advice I can give him."
When asked whether he could go a long way in the five-day format too, he asked the selectors to keep faith in him and he would succeed.
"In Tests, he can succeed slowly. He can succeed but they (selectors and team management) have to have faith in him. He has to bowl longer spells in five-day cricket," Prasanna said.
Kuldeep made his Test debut in March this year against Australia in Dharamsala. He won his Test cap thanks to the backing of the then head coach Anil Kumble.
The left-hander did not let his coach down as he took 4/68 in first innings. India won by eight wickets. Last month, he played his second Test, against Sri Lanka, in Pallekele where he claimed five wickets in the match.
Prasanna, who took 189 Test wickets from 49 matches, explained how wrist spinners like Kuldeep have an advantage over finger spinners.
"A wrist spinner has a natural advantage over a finger spinner. He can get - 99.99 per cent, a bit of turn on a good wicket too," he explained.
"Once he gets a bit of turn there is doubt in a batsman's mind as to whether the ball will turn or come through. An advantage for wrist spinners is that sometimes without their knowledge the ball will skid through when batsman expects a legbreak or a googly. That is where they get a leg before the wicket (LBW) decision.
"In case of a finger spinner, unless he is an extraordinary spinner, it will be little difficult to get turn (on good pitches). Only an off-break bowler gets a bit of turn because there is a bit of wrist involved," he signed off.
India and Australia will now travel to Indore to play the third ODI on September 24 (Sunday).
