The Indian spinner, Kuldeep Yadav has had an eventful career so far as he was one of Team India’s mainstays until the 2019 World Cup before he was dropped from the side. However, he has now become a crucial cog in all the formats of the game for the last year or so. In the IPL, Kuldeep enjoyed some of his best years with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) before a series of inconsistent performances barred him from playing regular games and his eventual unceremonious release from the franchise.
However, it was Delhi Capitals that invested in him and Kuldeep didn’t disappoint, as he scalped 21 wickets in 14 matches in 2022. This year, the left-arm spinner has been in good form for the Capitals again, conceding runs at a rate of just 6.74 with eight wickets to his name in nine games so far.
Kuldeep broke into the IPL in 2012 when Mumbai Indians roped him in, and even though it wasn’t until four years later when he made his league debut, the spinner had major learnings on the bench at MI as he bowled to one of the greatest batters in the game, Sachin Tendulkar.
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During a chat with Gaurav Kapur on Breakfast with Champions, Kuldeep opened up on his conversation with Tendulkar during his maiden season and revealed a huge piece of advice from the ‘Master Blaster’ about the IPL. Kuldeep recalled that he had a tour with the U19 team before joining the MI side in IPL 2012, and had a conversation with Tendulkar after he bowled to the batting great in the nets.
Recalling the incident, Kuldeep Yadav said, “It was the 2012 season. I had entered the Indian U19 team, and during the IPL, I had a series in Australia but I didn’t have a great experience there. In the afternoon, Sachin paaji had to bat. I bowled at him for about an hour, had even dismissed him. Then he talked to me for half an hour. I was very young back then, so I was very outspoken. So, I started sharing things with him.”
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He further added, “I told him how I had a bad experience in Australia, I bowled poorly. So, he tried to motivate me that it was just a start and that I will face such situations many times in the future. Then he talked about the IPL… He told me to beware about the lifestyle in IPL, sleep on time, eat well, don’t roam around too much because a lot of people will approach you.”
Yuzvendra Chahal, who was also a part of the conversation with Kuldeep, hilariously said, “I wish you had listened to him,” leaving the left-arm spinner in splits. While Kuldeep is having a decent outing in IPL 2023 so far, the Delhi Capitals are enduring one of their worst editions so far, winning only three of their nine matches. The DC is at the bottom of the table with six points.
