Kuldeep Yadav: Bitter experience in KKR to a marvellous Comeback with Delhi Capitals

Let's have a look at the problems faced by him in his former franchise and its consequences on his career.

Struggle in Kolkata Knight Riders

Kuldeep Yadav drew everyone's attention during the 2014 Under-19 World Cup. In the IPL auction for the 2014 season, he was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 40 lakh.

Kuldeep Yadav did not get a chance to play in the first two seasons of the IPL and made his debut in the 2016 edition. In eight seasons in the IPL, the Indian player had only played 45 games. In 2016, he appeared in only three games, but in 2017 and 2018, he featured in nearly all the matches of Kolkata Knight Riders. During this time, he scalped 29 wickets in 28 matches.

In the 2019 season of the tournament, however, his form looked to have faded, as he had only appeared in nine games and had taken only four wickets. Since then, Kuldeep Yadav has had difficulty with the Kolkata Knight Riders. In 2020, the left-arm spinner made an appearance in only five games of the season. He was benched for the entire IPL season 2021. Varun Chakravarthy was preferred over Kuldeep Yadav, and eventually, KKR let go of the Kanpur-born spinner. Kolkata Knight Riders' benching him throughout cost him a regular spot in the Indian limited-overs squads from 2019 to 2021, with the spinner making just a sporadic appearance

A match-winner after joining Delhi Capitals

The Delhi Capitals then purchased Kuldeep Yadav in the mega auctions of IPL 2022. Things have improved for the left-arm spinner from thereon, with the china man bowler returning to the T20I team in February and having a great start to the 2022 edition. Kuldeep has already succeeded in getting ten wickets from just four matches of the season.

In the Delhi Capitals, he was given an opportunity as early as the season's first game. And the left arm's wrist-spinner made full use of it. The Delhi-based franchise showed faith in him, and in return, Kuldeep Yadav took three wickets in his first match of this season, including two crucial wickets of Rohit Sharma (41) and Kieron Pollard (3). In his 4-over effort, Kuldeep was accurate with his lengths and bowled faster than usual, allowing only 18 runs. It must have boosted his confidence as he was awarded the Player of the Match award in the franchise's very first game.

Sunil Gavaskar said, "Any time you get four wickets in a T20 format, you bowled exceptionally well. And the way he was picking the wickets at crucial times was also important. The fact that he has now begun to pick wickets means that the chances of him making a comeback to the Indian team also increase." He further added, "He is that kind of a bowler, a left-arm wrist-spinner, who can bowl the googly as well, a very well-disguised googly. And he is bowling a lot flatter. Earlier on, he was a little slow off the pitch; now he is a little quicker off the pitch, which makes batting a little bit more difficult against him".

Revenge with KKR

On Sunday, Kuldeep Yadav got the chance with the KKR as the Capitals took on Shreyas Iyer's team at the Brabourne Stadium. The leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav successfully showcased his former franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, what they were missing with excellent performance.

He was again named Player of the Match after returning with stats of four for 35 as DC thrashed KKR by 44 runs in the IPL 2022 match. Delhi Capitals were defending a 215-run target against Kolkata, and the spinner startled his opponents with a brilliant bowling effort that included three wickets in one over. Kolkata Knight Riders didn't stand a chance of winning the game after that game changed over. 

His career has been full of ups and downs, but all he actually needed was someone who could show faith in him. In just four matches of the season, he has already shown what he's capable of, and we could expect much more of a similar spell by him in the remaining season of the league.