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[caption id="attachment_54693" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Kuldeep Yadav bowled brilliantly in the first ODI against Australia. Image Source: twitter[/caption] Internet Desk: India’s talented chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has been in prime form since India’s tour of Sri Lanka and now he is showing his class again against the Australians too as he bowled brilliantly in the first ODI in Chennai to take his side to victory. The cricket pundits have already started saying that he could play a vital role for the Men in Blue in the forthcoming 2019 World Cup as the team looking for a suitable team combination right now. But it was not an easy road for the 22-year-old lad. In his early days he used to be a bench warmer for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. Later two time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders picked him and after that he got the much needed chance to show his talent in front of the world. While talking to CricketNext young Kuldeep revealed that he would remain grateful to his KKR skipper Gautam Gammbhir for keeping faith on him when nobody was there to by his side during his tough times. “I shall always be grateful to Gauti bhai (Gambhir) for backing me when I was a nobody. He backed me when no one knew me. It has been a great ride under him and with my KKR teammates. I always wanted to play for India across all formats, but to channelize that desire I needed the guidance of someone like him,” Kuldeep had revealed. In fact, former KKR assistant coach Vijay Dahiya has an interesting story to tell when it comes to the skipper backing the young chinaman bowler. This after Mumbai Indians had not realised his potential. “Gambhir was very bullish and felt that Kuldeep was a rare talent. In fact, if you go by the records over the past few seasons, there were times when Kuldeep made the cut ahead of some of the more recognised names in the KKR playing XI. The reason was that Gambhir felt that Kuldeep was a match-winner. The moment we saw him, we realised that he is a special talent. “I am nobody to speak on their behalf (Mumbai Indians). All I know is that the moment we saw him we knew he was a raw talent who needed to be nurtured and that is what we did over the years. Gambhir played an integral role in giving Kuldeep that confident. It is not often that you come across such talent, but it is just as important to spot them and have confidence in their ability.” Not only Gambhir, India skipper Virat Kohli too played a key role for Kuldeep’s rise as he helped Kuldeep a lot during India’s fourth Test against the Aussies in Dharmasala earlier this year. Co incidentally it was the first time in 85 years time that a chinaman bowler was downing the Indian jersey. Kuldeep took the all important wicket of David Warner of his 25th delivery in Test cricket. Though Kohli was not a part of the Test match as he sustained an injury in the third Test, but he kept talking to Kuldeep at the boundaries many times. “He kept speaking to me and calming me down. I was desperate to play for the country and often you lose the plot and get overawed by the situation. After all, it was a dream I was realizing. But Virat bhai kept asking me to enjoy the moment and not think too much about the situation. He kept asking me to focus on my strengths and bowl in the right areas. It was a good feeling to have him egg you on from the sidelines,” the spinner said.