Wasim taught me the art of swing bowling: Jaydev

Indian pacer says Pakistan legend taught him the basics of moving the cricket ball in the air

Indian left-arm medium pacer Jaydev Unadkat, the second most successful bowler of the 2017 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has heaped praise on Pakistan bowling legend Wasim Akram for his role in making him the bowler he is today.

Jaydev had worked with Wasim two years back when he was bought by the Shahrukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders and he feels the lessons he learned from the Sultan of Swing were really helpful.

“I was too star struck by Wasim [when I first met him],” he was quoted as saying by the Times of India. “But I did manage to learn the art of swing bowling from him.”

The 25-year-old added that Wasim was able to teach him the basics of bowling and also taught him new ways to hold the ball.

“I also learned different ways of gripping the ball which I was not aware of,” said Jaydev. “I have come a long way but the lessons with Wasim taught me the basics of bowling.”

Unadkat bagged 24 wickets in 12 matches to help his Rising Pune Supergiants side reach the final against Mumbai Indians. He was only behind right-arm Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar who bagged 26 wickets in 14 matches — only two more than Jaydev in two more matches.

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The Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai side downed Pune in a thrilling one-run victory on Sunday to bag the IPL trophy a record third time in the tournament’s 10-year history.