Delhi Capitals (DC) spinner Kuldeep Yadav on Sunday (11th April) said that he’s enjoying his time with the franchise in the ongoing IPL 2022 as the team backs him a lot and he also gets the support of skipper Rishabh Pant from behind the stumps.
Kuldeep played a crucial role in DC’s 44-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The leg-spinner outfoxed the opposition batters with his variations and returned with the figures of 4/35.
He first removed well-set Shreyas Iyer for 54 runs in the 13th over and then returned in the 16th over to take 3 wickets in Pat Cummins (4), Sunil Narine (4) and Umesh Yadav (0) to dent KKR’s chances of winning the match.
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With his four-wicket haul against KKR, Kuldeep completed 10 wickets in the tournament so far and his heroics also earned him the Player of the Match award.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Kuldeep Yadav said that he’s enjoying the environment at Delhi Capitals, who back him a lot and skipper Rishabh Pant also guides him from behind the stumps. He also talked about the catch he took off his own bowling to dismiss Umesh.
"I am enjoying the environment here and have a good backing of the side. Rishabh guides me well from behind the stumps, too. Actually, I didn't think much earlier.
“I felt I can reach it, and it is my wicket at the end of the day. It is important to take a pause and think about the bowling. This is a good wicket and the batters do well,” Kuldeep Yadav said.
Kuldeep said that he enjoyed the wicket of Shreyas Iyer the most as the KKR skipper was batting and hitting the ball well.
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Talking about his bowling speed, the leg-spinner said that he’s trying to keep things simple and is focusing on his rhythm. Adding that, bowling good lengths is the reason behind his success.
"Shreyas was batting well and hitting it well, so that was a big wicket. Enjoyed Shreyas' wicket more because it was my first and was the main wicket from the team's point of view since he was batting well.
“I haven't tried too much and I am focusing on my rhythm. That's what I did when I returned to the Indian team. I am enjoying my bowling and bowling good lengths. I pulled the lengths against Shreyas as well as Cummins,” he said.
Notably, Kuldeep Yadav earlier represented KKR in the previous editions. It’s fair to say that the franchise didn’t give him many chances as he played just 5 games in IPL 2020 and was benched for the whole season in 2021.
The chinaman bowler will be next seen in action when DC will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Saturday (16th April) at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
(PTI inputs)
