NEW DELHI: After spending much of the five-Test series in England on the bench, India's star spinner Kuldeep Yadav credited his prolific Duleep Trophy stint for helping him regain his rhythm ahead of the Asia Cup.

Kuldeep ended the tournament as the leading wicket-taker with 17 dismissals at an impressive average of 9.29. In the Asia Cup final against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, he once again dazzled, claiming 4/30 in just four overs to rattle the opposition's batting line-up.

"When you have not played cricket for a long time you need rhythm... that was important for me and I played my first Duleep Trophy game in which I bowled a lot.

So, when I came for the tournament, my bowling was obviously going well," Kuldeep said during a chat with teammate Rinku Singh, the video of which was uploaded by the BCCI on its website.

"My role was to control the runs in the middle overs and take wickets. The captain had a lot of faith in me, and I fulfilled my role very well," a pleased Kuldeep added.

Kuldeep, alongside Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel, formed a formidable spin trio that baffled opposition batters with their skill and variations.

"I don't have fixed goals, my only motivation is to give my best, whenever I get a chance to bowl contribute to the team," Kuldeep said on his preparations for the continental tournament.

Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy said he was glad to have met the team management's expectations after being tasked with the challenging roles of bowling in both the powerplay and the death overs.

"Very glad to be doing this role for Team India and definitely when GG (head coach Gautam Gambhir) and (captain) Surya told me that I will be doing the tougher role, as in bowling in the power play and bowling in the death also."

Varun credited Sanju Samson as his pillar of strength before sharing a brief interaction with the Kerala stumper, who contributed a crucial middle-order knock after India lost two early wickets in the final against Pakistan.

"This guy has been a pillar of support for me, yes, a very big pillar from the neighbourhood! Sanju Mohanlal Samson," Varun said in another BCCI video as Samson joined him for a chat.

Samson said he had to absorb the pressure after the two early wickets of Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill, as India chased 147.

"I was a stable guy, I had to absorb the pressure , I had to just be there and watch the ball and play my game and use all my experience. I have been around for a few years now, so I know that I wanted some proper partnership with Tilak, good right-left combination..." Samson said.

"They were looking for wickets.. so I thought I will just play my shots and just looking at the ball and that really helped," he added.

Rinku Singh, who finished the chase with a boundary in the only ball he faced in the match, said he has been working hard on his batting and fielding.