‘IPL helps you overcome fear of getting hit for plenty of runs’

With Delhi,it was actually a dream come true for me to first be picked and then play for their team. You see great cricketers like Virender Sehwag,Kevin Pietersen,David Warner,Morne Morkel,Umesh Yadav and Irfan Pathan sitting next to you and always ready to offer help. Even though we all are disappointed from the eventual result,it was a brilliant platform for me and a memorable experience.

Can you throw some light on what the likes of Eric Simons and TA Sekhar taught you? Did you have to change your style or basics under their guidance?

No,not at all. They only helped us strengthen our basics. Yes our preparations for a match have changed drastically,but not on the bowling front such as how I land or my action. Simons and Sekhar heavily focused on single-wicket bowling throughout the season and made us bowl slower ones,yorkers and length deliveries – variations that every fast bowler must be armed with,especially in T20 cricket. Not only the coaches,but even the senior bowlers in the side helped us immensely.

Apart from the skill training that you have mentioned,did they help you with the mental aspect of the game?

It is well known that the T20 format is tailormade for the batsmen and run-scoring. Our coaches essentially asked us bowlers to stick to our strengths. One of the best lessons we learnt that was to not care about our figures in a match and bowl the way we did in the nets. They told us that you might get hit despite bowling a good ball,which is pretty much what the batsmen are out there for. So it was important for us to not fear any situation and concentrate on only the next ball.

Apart from the DD coaches,did your father,Tej Kaul,help you prepare for every match?

Definitely. He used to gauge how was I feeling after hearing me speak on the phone. There were days when I used to be all pumped up because of a good performance and there were days when I wouldn’t sound so good after a poor performance. So my father was always there to tell me where I was going wrong and constantly asked to me focus on the next match. Not only my dad,my mother also saw my matches and guided me to improve in certain areas. And undoubtedly,my brother Uday has been a constant help on the phone. He has kept wickets to my bowling in the Ranji Trophy,so it was easy for him to point out the right lines and lengths.

Like Morne Morkel,the South African fast bowler with the Delhi Daredevils,you too have a high arm action. And quite like him,you too believe hitting a rhythm. Was he of help to you?

To be honest,I did speak extensively with him but we never discussed bowling or strategies. Morkel taught me how I shouldn’t worry too much and just focus. But Umesh (Yadav) bhai is a great friend and he helped me a lot.

With his experience,he shared things with me which helped me in bettering my performance. Although he focuses heavily on pace,he encouraged me to improve my line and length and generate more swing in order to get wickets.

So what went wrong with the campaign?

When teams like RCB and CSK won,they managed to win some games with massive margins. That helped them gain plenty of confidence going into their following fixtures. With us,most of the matches we won and lost were close ones. This did not give us the kind of motivation we would have liked and it was a crucial factor in causing a poor campaign.

So what was your best IPL moment?

It has to be those two maiden overs that I bowled in my first two matches. Before the start of the first game,I was very tense – as I was constantly worried about going for plenty of runs. But what occurred was the opposite — not once but twice. It wasn’t a bad way for me to understand that feeling scared is natural. The other thing I will always remember is becoming a close friend with Viru paaji (Virender Sehwag). I could not have imagined that one day I will be sharing a dressing room with him,let alone become a good friend of his and one of his joke buddies. Paaji jokes a lot. When I got hit for plenty in one of the matches,Viru pa said: “Kyun padh gaye aaj run tujhe.” We used to also sing songs together. And that has to be special.