Merlyn to the rescue as England prepare to counter Kuldeep Yadav threat

Kuldeep Yadav has played three games on tour so far, two Twenty20 Internationals in Ireland and one in England, and has 12 wickets from them, having given away 61 runs in total.

That’s pretty incredible, and with 5/24 coming in the first of three T20Is against England, there is cause for concern in the English ranks. Ahead of the second T20I, in Cardiff on Friday 6 July, England brought out ‘Merlyn’, the spin-bowling machine that has been used in the past before tours of the subcontinent – or when Shane Warne was around – to get some training going.

“Merlyn is a good addition. Especially when you don't have someone to replicate bowling left-arm wrist spin,” said Chris Jordan, who will hope that he doesn’t have to do anything with the bat, against Kuldeep or any of the other Indians, in the second game.

Kuldeep was outstanding in the first game, first bowling Alex Hales and then sending in a three-wicket over – Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root – that knocked England completely off the rails.

“We've got some very experienced players in our dressing room – some very, very good players of spin. I think our record against spin since 2015 has been one of the better ones anyway. We know we probably have to be a bit smarter against Kuldeep and their spinners. But if we still try to stay on the front foot as much as possible and keep putting pressure back on them, I hope we'll be okay,” argued Jordan, adding that the batsmen will have done their homework before the Cardiff fixture.

England were in rollicking form in the series against Australia recently: 5-0 in the one-day internationals and then the win in the one-off T20I. But there was the defeat to Scotland in an ODI before that and then the loss to India. England’s confidence hasn’t been dented, though, said Jordan, who returned 0/27 in Manchester.

“We've been on a high in white-ball cricket for a while now. One game, one defeat shouldn't change our confidence whatsoever,” he pointed out. “The better team beat us on the day. It was a good spell from Kuldeep and then a very good innings from KL Rahul (101*). They thoroughly deserved the win but we'll be looking to bounce back come tomorrow.”

Jordan also hoped that with as many as 12 English players, as well as Jofra Archer, playing in the Indian Premier League 2018, there wouldn’t be any scenes of acrimony on the field in the remainder of the Indian tour.

“When you do cross the white line, you do want to play hard, because you're playing for your country – you want to give 100% and put the opposition under as much pressure as possible,” he said. “You're on the battlefield, but as soon as the game finishes we can go and sit and have a chat and a drink like anyone else – and still be very good friends.”