"It becomes very difficult when the communication is weak" - Kuldeep Yadav on his recent struggles with KKR
Team India wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav recently spoke about his lack of gametime with his IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He has slid down the pecking order at KKR with Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy emerging as the first-choice spinners.
The left-arm Chinaman rued the lack of communication in the franchise and lamented how he has not even been given a reason for his absence from the team. Yadav missed out on KKR's matches earlier this season, despite them playing a handful of games at the spin-friendly IPL venue in Chennai.
Speaking on the issue on Aakash Chopra's YouTube channel, Kuldeep Yadav said:
"If the coaches have worked with you before and are with you for a prolonged period of time, they understand you better. But it becomes very difficult when the communication is weak. Sometimes you don't even know that whether you will be playing or not, or what the team expects from you.
"Sometimes you feel that you are deserving to play, can win matches for the team, but you don't know the reason why you are not playing. The management comes for 2 months with their plans, so that makes it difficult," he added.
Kuldeep Yadav brought up the stark difference in the way things are handled in the Indian team and IPL franchises. He revealed that in the Team India camp, players are often told why they are missing from the playing eleven, but the same trait is missing from his IPL franchise. Yadav also added that he felt the franchise did not trust his skills any more to win games.
"In the Indian team they talk to you when you are not selected, but it does not happen in the IPL," Kuldeep Yadav said. "I remember that I had spoken to the franchise before the IPL but in the matches that happened in the middle, nobody gave me an explanation. I was a bit shocked. I felt like there was no trust, like they had no faith in my skill. This happens when the team has many options. KKR now has plenty of spin bowling options."
According to IPL points table 2021, KKR has struggled in the first half of the tournament and could only bag two wins out of seven fixtures.
You can check out the IPL 2021 Time Table here.
Lot of difference between an Indian captain and an overseas captain: Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav also spoke about the difference between having an Indian captain and an overseas captain. He pointed out that he could readily ask any Indian skipper for pointers to improve, but he didn't feel the same freedom with an overseas skipper.
"Definitely, definitely makes a lot of difference," Kuldeep Yadav said. "I don't know how Eoin Morgan sees me. In such cases, the communication gap increases.
"When it's an Indian, you can literally walk up to them and ask why you are not playing. Suppose, Rohit Sharma is the captain, you can ask freely on ways to improve, what's my role in the team but most importantly, the captain should also be interested in what he expects from me," he added.
The two-time IPL winners will resume their campaign on September 20, when they face the third-placed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).