BENGALURU: Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav expects the bowlers to have a tough time at Mumbai’s batsman-friendly Wankhede Stadium when the hosts take on New Zealand in their World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

South Africa posted 399-7 against England and 382-5 against Bangladesh while India made 357-8 against Sri Lanka at the venue before Glenn Maxwell smashed an extraordinary double century as Australia chased down 291 against Afghanistan last week.

“It’s a difficult venue to bowl in. The bounce is true and batsmen often dominate there. Unlike in Twenty20, the bowlers have plenty of time to come back into the game,” Kuldeep told reporters on Sunday after India beat the Netherlands.

“But yes, you need a couple of early wickets to get on top of the game and the opponents.”

New Zealand will be looking to repeat their 2019 feat of knocking India out in the semi-finals.

“We’ve played a lot of bilateral series after that,” Kuldeep said. “Our preparation has been good and we’ve been able to play good cricket throughout the tournament.

“We expect to continue in the same vein in the next match.”

Kuldeep has claimed 14 wickets during India’s run of nine straight victories at the tournament.

“I just work on my rhythm and strengths and focus on how the batsmen are trying to play me. My aim is to land the ball on the good length area as much as possible,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2023