Kuldeep Yadav starred with the ball in Delhi Capitals’ (DC) four-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) in their IPL 2022 opener at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday (March 28).

Having warmed the bench of his former franchise Kolkata Knight Riders for the last two seasons, the wrist-spinner returned with match-winning figures of 3/18 on his debut for the Capitals and earned the Player-of-the-Match award.

After the game, DC all-rounder Akshar Patel said the franchise gave a sense of security to Kuldeep, something that brought the best out of the latter.

See Also: Cricket fraternity all praiseful of DC’s Kuldeep Yadav as his 3/18 keeps MI to 177/5

"It's all about the mindset. He was struggling in the IPL as his place was not secured for KKR. He was not sure whether he will play all their matches," Akshar said at the post-match media conference.

"But he feels that surety of playing matches after coming over here. If you know your place is secured, and not that you have to perform in two matches otherwise you will be sacked from the team, then you can give your best."

Kuldeep went out of favour in KKR's scheme of things with the arrival of Varun Chakravarthy in the last two seasons. He played 45 matches for the franchise, claiming 40 wickets at an average of 30.90.

Featuring in his first match for DC, Kuldeep dismissed Rohit Sharma (41), Anmolpreet Singh (0), and Kieron Pollard (3) to restrict MI to 177/5.

Akshar said Delhi Capitals’ think-tank led by Australia legend Ricky Ponting has lifted his confidence.

"The way (head coach) Ricky (Ponting), other coaches and the captain (Rishabh Pant) extended the support to him, he could give his best," he said.

"Even during the practice we tell him you can do well. It's about that surety. He has got that mental shift that he will play all matches so he is able to give his best."

Chasing 178 to win, Delhi Capitals got over the line in 18.2 overs with Akshar Patel (38* off 17 balls) and Lalit Yadav (48* off 38 balls) playing stunning knocks after they were reduced to 72/5 inside 10 overs.

"We never lost hope, we knew we could bat deep. Ricky always said never give up hope, never thought we were out of the game. We just followed our instincts. On this wicket, you can always accelerate, so it was about taking the game deep," Akshar said.

(With PTI inputs)