Kuldeep Yadav admitted that technical issues in his bowling action affected his consistency during IPL 2026, but the Delhi Capitals spinner believes returning to basics with the help of his childhood coach helped him rediscover his rhythm in the team’s final league game against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Kuldeep produced one of his best performances of the season at Eden Gardens, finishing with impressive figures of 3/29 as Delhi Capitals defeated KKR by 40 runs. The left-arm wrist spinner removed Ajinkya Rahane, Cameron Green and Rinku Singh, earning the Player of the Match award and ending a difficult campaign on a positive note.

“To be very honest, I thought I didn’t have a great season because I was expecting more from myself but couldn’t deliver,” Kuldeep Yadav said after the match. The Indian spinner revealed that he immediately returned home after Delhi’s previous game to work closely with his childhood coach on correcting small technical flaws that had crept into his bowling during the tournament.

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“After the last game, I went back home and worked with my coach on the things I needed to improve. It was just the small things you forget very quickly, especially in white-ball cricket,” he explained.

Kuldeep Yadav said he had been bowling too “open-chested,” which prevented him from properly using his body through the action and reduced the effectiveness of his spin. Once those issues were corrected, he felt more confident attacking the batters and generating greater drift and dip.

🚨 EMOTIONAL STATEMENT BY KULDEEP YADAV ON HIS PERFORMANCE IN IPL 2026 FOR DC 🚨

Kuldeep Yadav said 🗣️,

“I wasn’t happy before this game. The way we wanted this season to go, we didn’t finish in the top-four. Personally, I didn’t have a good season. To be very honest, I was… pic.twitter.com/Q4eVUdhura

— Cricket Central (@CricketCentrl) May 24, 2026

“Once you start using more of your body and try to spin the ball harder, ultimately you see the results. You get the dip and the drift and obviously you can vary the pace as well,” he added.

The spinner also highlighted how changing pace became a key weapon on the slow Kolkata pitch, especially against aggressive middle-order batters. He pointed to the dismissal of Rinku Singh as the perfect example of his improved execution.

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Kuldeep further revealed that his coach encouraged him to trust his natural strengths rather than become overly defensive in T20 cricket. Although he narrowly missed out on a hat-trick after a dropped catch by wicketkeeper Abishek Porel, the spinner said he was pleased with the way he bounced back after a frustrating season.