From Shield cricket to maiden five-wicket haul in Tests

Matthew Kuhnemann will have to wait till the end of the series to get some valuable “tips” from Ravindra Jadeja, though just watching the India spinner operate in the middle has been an education for the rookie Australian left-arm spinner. The 26-year-old, who was playing the Sheffield Shield two weeks ago before being drafted into the Test team ahead of the second Test, is pinching himself every day in the company of Australian stars like Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Steve Smith.

He is also a big fan of Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. Playing only his second Test, Kuhnemann, who had a stint at a spin clinic in Chennai six months ago, picked up a career-best 5/16 today. “Probably the biggest thing I picked up in Delhi is that he (Jadeja) brings his length back a little bit when the ball gets a little bit older. That’s the main thing I brought into this Test,” said Kuhnemann.

Has he got the chance to pick Jadeja’s brains yet? “I said to him, have you got any tips for me? He said ‘yes, at the end of the series’,” said the Queenslander.

On making his Test debut in unexpected circumstances, he said: “It’s been a whirlwind. Every night I’m sort of just pinching myself. Even today just sitting in the change room, just looking around speaking to Starcy and Lyon and thinking this is unreal.”