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Kuldeep Yadav made a phenomenal comeback in Delhi Capitals' (DC) Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 campaign opener. Kuldeep was adjudged 'player of the match' for picking up three wickets and conceded just 18 runs in his four overs. After the performance, former support staff member of DC, Mohammad Kaif criticised Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for their treatment of the leg-spinner as he was not given enough game time in the past few seasons.
“Kuldeep Yadav is a proven match-winner. But he is someone who also needs to be managed well. He is a bit emotional and feels low if he isn't given the bowling or is dropped from the team,” Kaif told Sportskeeda.
“The way he was treated at KKR when Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan were the captains, he used to be made to sit at home and not even in the squad. When you behave like this, any match-winner feels the pressure,” the 41-year-old added.
Kuldeep got the major breakthrough against Mumbai Indians (MI) by picking up the wicket of skipper Rohit Sharma. He followed it up with the wickets of Anmolpreet Singh and Kieron Pollard at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on March 27.
After the match-winning performance, Kuldeep credited his successful comeback to India’s all-format skipper Rohit and DC head coach Ricky Ponting. The 27-year-old also said that he did not make many changes in his bowling, just got his rhythm back.
“I am very happy. My lengths were good. I have been working really hard and have been talking to Ricky Ponting. Before this also, I have been talking to Rohit bhai. I haven't changed much in my bowling. The variation in pace was because I was in good rhythm,” the leg-spinner said during the innings break.
Kuldeep was unavailable for the second phase of IPL 2021 and flew back home to go under the knife. He recently made his T20I comeback as well against Sri Lanka under the leadership of Rohit. He thanked his trainers at NCA for his recovery last year.
“It was a difficult time for me. I was out with injury for five months. It was important for me to go for the rehab and thanks to the facilities and trainers at the NCA, I recovered very well and in time to get back into the Indian set up. And slowly I started match preparation and when I started playing the games,” he said in the post-match presentation.
