Kuldeep Yadav, the longstanding wrist-spinner for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), spoke about the influence that the team's former captain Gautam Gambhir and ex-bowling coach Wasim Akram had on him in his initial days with the franchise. 

Kuldeep said Gambhir, under whom KKR lifted the IPL title twice in 2012 and 2014, gave him confidence by assuring him of his spot in the playing XI while Wasim enabled his learning of the mental aspects of the game. 

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"Gauti bhai (Gambhir) had a huge influence on me from the start of my stint at KKR," Kuldeep told the franchise’s official website kkr.in. "He always spoke to me a lot. Not only during the time he was at KKR, but even after that, over these last two years."

"He always kept me motivated. Before the 2014 CLT20, he gave me a lot of confidence by telling me ‘You’ll play every game, just keep putting in the kind of effort you have shown.’ When you get that kind of confidence from your captain, it becomes a huge plus point for any player. It helps you remain confident, and that translates into good performances."

Wasim, the former Pakistan captain and inarguably among the greatest-ever fast bowlers to have played the game, used to have regular chats with young Kuldeep in the KKR dug-out. 

"Wasim sir used to like me a lot too. He didn’t speak much about bowling, but he prepared me a lot in terms of mentally taking on the game. He prepared me to take on different situations in different ways, and taught me how to react when batsmen put you under pressure."

“When he was at KKR, I used to sit with him and pick his brain a lot. I used to sit next to him in the dugout during matches and ask questions about real-time situations. I used to ask him what he would have done in certain situations, and he would test me by asking me what my approach would have been," added Kuldeep.

"So apart from Gauti bhai, he was someone who had a big influence on me during those early years. He also has a very good sense of humour, so it was great having him around."

Kuldeep, who is now an integral part of the senior Indian team's limited-overs set-up and among its back-up Test spinners at the highest level, first played the IPL for Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2012 and was bought by KKR in 2014. 

(Inputs from IANS)