"It still hurts me a lot" - Kuldeep Yadav shares his regrets from his time at KKR
Delhi Capitals (DC) and India wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav said on Monday (April 22) that he still carries some regrets about his time with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and thinks about the things he could've done better as a bowler at the franchise.
Kuldeep joined KKR in 2012 and soon became one of the biggest spin sensations in the country due to his unique left-arm angle. However, as batters started to figure out his variations, the phase between 2019 and 2021 got arduous. KKR backed him for a while but then forced him on the bench for the entire 2021 season.
Kuldeep parted ways with the team but lost his place in the Indian set-up soon after and then suffered a major injury. However, he has come back stronger and better and is not only DC's but India's ace for all white-ball cricket.
"I feel very bad about it," Kuldeep told a select group of journalists in an event organised by the DC management. "Now, when I see myself, I wish I could've done things that I can do now at that time. It still hurts me a lot. I think about how if I had worked on these things earlier, I would have been able to dominate the game more.
"But that didn't happen because experience is such a thing that you only get after playing and not without doing anything. You only learn after facing failures in life."
He added:
"Now, I am very confident. I have a lot of belief in my skills. But at the same time, I am very respectful for the opponent and understand how they play. Perhaps I didn't used to to do that then because I had that much belief in my skills. Now I focus on my strengths and think about where to bowl to cause difficulties for the batter."
The spinner, who set the room laughing with his witty jokes, was also asked about his former captain at KKR, Dinesh Karthik's recent statement that he had to be "tough" with Kuldeep because his performances weren't up to the mark.
He replied that he didn't remember what conversation he had with Karthik. He also added that he understands that Karthik's job to choose one of Varun Chakravarthy, who was in better form at the time, and him was difficult.
When prodded further to speak about differences between Karthik's captaincy and that of MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep said:
"I just feel that DK bhai plays spin so well that he needs to understand how to manage them (smiles). It was almost like he was so good against spin so he used to think opposition batters were also good!"
He further said that he was quite immature during his time with KKR and needed guidance from seniors like Karthik and Dhoni. But now, he believes that he is mature enough to dictate his needs and command the field himself.
Kuldeep Yadav praises Abhishek Sharma for his batting against him
Kuldeep has been in stunning form in IPL 2024. Despite missing a couple of games due to a groin injury, he has 10 wickets from five matches at 15.20. In his most recent game against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), he conceded 55 runs but took four wickets which kept the Orange Army from going past 300.
The 29-year-old spoke about how his plan in this high-scoring IPL has been to bowl to his strengths and accept when batters hit his best deliveries. He singled out SRH's young opener Abhishek Sharma as the one batter who did that the best.
"Abhishek batted really well. The balls he hit for sixes, that... I have played a lot of T20s and those balls are really difficult to hit so credit to him."
Kuldeep would now be in action on Wednesday against the Gujarat Titans in Delhi.