Delhi Capitals (DC) wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav admitted that bowling too “open-chested” affected his consistency in the IPL 2026 season, but he ironed out these technical flaws by working with childhood coach back home.

Kuldeep bounced back with stellar figures of 3/29 in DC’s last league stage match against KKR at the Eden Gardens on Sunday (May 24), dismissing Ajinkya Rahane, Cameron Green, and Rinku Singh to earn Player-of-the-Match honors.

“To be very honest, I wasn’t happy before this match because the way we wanted as a team to have a great season, we couldn’t finish in the top four. Personally, I thought I didn’t have a great season, to be very honest, because I was expecting more from myself but couldn’t deliver this season,” Kuldeep said in the post-match interview.

“After the last game, I went back home and worked with my coach on the things I needed to improve. I played one game there and realised it was just the small things you forget very quickly, especially in white-ball cricket. To go there, work on those things and come back here and bowl like that, it was lovely to see,” he added.

Kuldeep revealed that he was bowling “open-chested,” which restricted his body rotation and heavily reduced the dip, drift, and spin on the ball.

“I thought I was bowling a bit more open-chested and sometimes not using my full body. What happens then is you just push the ball and that’s where T20 batters become extremely strong to hit you down the ground and play off the back foot. Once you start using more of your body and try to spin the ball harder, ultimately you see the results. You get the dip and the drift and obviously you can vary the pace as well. It was lovely to see and I think it was a lovely game for me, especially coming back from the last game,” he explained.

Recognizing that the Eden Gardens wicket was slow, Kuldeep mixed his pace and used scrambled seams to deceive the batters.

“I was very clear with my plan. I saw early on that the wicket was a bit slow and I was just trying to vary the pace, mix it up with scrambled seam and try to deceive the batter. The wicket of Rinku was a perfect example because I tried to slow it down through the air and he played it straight away, so it was a good ball to get him out,” he stated.

Although Kuldeep was denied a hat-trick when wicketkeeper Abishek Porel dropped a straightforward catch, he was not overly disappointed about missing the milestone, stating he was simply pleased with his overall rhythm and bowling execution.

“It happens in the game and I’m very happy with the performance, to be very honest. Getting a hat-trick or not is just part of the game, but the way I bowled, I’m pleased now,” he remarked.

Kuldeep also revealed that his coach advised him to focus on naturally spinning the ball to create wicket-taking opportunities instead of bowling too defensively.

“When I spoke to my coach, he was really straightforward with me and said, “Boss, you need to spin the ball. Try to deceive the batter.” I understand that batters are going hard against you, but when you’re spinning the ball, you always have a chance to get them out. I also wasn’t using my full body in the last couple of games. I thought I bowled well in patches, but when you miss something in your run-up or rhythm, it ultimately affects your game,” he concluded.