How Kuldeep is planning to counter dew in Delhi

Anticipating that gripping the ball may prove to be a stiff challenge because of dew, chinaman spin bowler Kuldeep Yadav was on Tuesday seen practising with a wet ball on the eve of the Twenty20 International series-opener against New Zealand, in New Delhi.

Dew has always been prevalent whenever Indian teams play at home from October to January and hampers the bowlers big time.

Any score becomes chaseable under lights during this time of the year as bowlers, especially the spinners, find it extremely difficult to grip the ball in the second half of the game.

During the optional net session in the afternoon, Kuldeep was seen soaking the white cherry in mineral water after every second delivery.

The idea was conceived by bowling coach Bharat Arun, who was seen discussing the strategy with the young spinner.

India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar had also adopted the same strategy to prepare himself for death bowling in the past.

For a wrist spinner, the grip becomes all the more important as there are more chances of wet ball slipping out of the hand.

Bowling with the wet ball in the nets will help Kuldeep get acclimatised to the dew conditions incase India bowl second.

Kuldeep primarily bowled to Dinesh Karthik at the nets but the batsman was seen negotiating the deliveries easily.

In between, the spinner also asked scribes at the venue as to what time in the evening the dew sets in.

During the net session, rookie Shreyas Iyer was hit on the right forearm by a throw-down from support staff member Raghavendra.

Iyer looked in pain and did not take any further part in the nets after that