Australia seem to have found themselves a quality spinner in Matthew Kuhnemann who impressed with his performance in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Kuhnemann was inducted into the team before the Delhi test and he really came to the party in the third test at Indore where he ran through the famed Indian batting line up. He took 5 for 16 in India’s first innings and ended the series with 9 wickets.
Kuhnemann is a great fan of the Indian allrounder Ravindra Jadeja and he ended up requesting Jadeja for some tips after his debut for the Aussies in the Delhi Test, to which Jadeja had promised that he would do so after the end of the final test. True to his word, Jadeja had a chat with Kuhnemann after the close of play in the final test. Kuhnemann, who considers Jadeja as his idol, and has even been nicknamed ‘Jaddu’ by his Queensland teammates, was delighted.
Speaking about the interaction, Kuhnemann said, “It was probably about 15 minutes, he (Jadeja) was just giving me some awesome tips; we talked about everything. He (Jadeja) was really impressed with Todd (Murphy), ‘Gaz’ (Lyon) and myself so that was really cool to hear that from him. He gave me some good tips for the next time we’re in the subcontinent and some tips to go back home with as well.” Sharing his delight, Kuhnemann added, “He was really nice and just said any time to reach out, and even sent me a message on Instagram, so that was pretty cool. I’m ready to get back in the nets, get back in there after speaking to Jadeja. The way that it happened, I wouldn’t change it for the world,”. Thanking Nathan Lyon, he said, “Nathan Lyon took myself and Todd under his wing from the get go, he was pretty much like a big brother to us over here. I think we’re very lucky to have ‘Gaz’ and his experience to learn off.”
