Kuldeep Yadav recalled an important life advice he got from Sachin Tendulkar when he had just started out playing in the Indian Premier League tournament. Kuldeep was part of the MI squad in IPL 2012 season.
Kuldeep Yadav, alongside teammate and best friend Yuzvendra Chahal, appeared on the show ‘Breakfast With Champions’ where they talked about a variety of things.
Recalling his early days in IPL, Kuldeep revealed that former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar advised him to be careful about the IPL lifestyle, eat healthy, and not go out much.
“In 2012, we had a series in Australia. I came after playing that series. I didn’t have a good experience. In the evening, we had net practice and Paaji (Sachin Tendulkar) wanted to bat earlier then I bowled him for the first time in an hour and I got him out.
He spoke to me for an hour. I was very young then and I was quite frank. I told him that I didn’t have a good experience. He (Sachin Tendulkar) said that it’s just the beginning, it will happen many times. He told me to be careful of the IPL lifestyle, sleep on time, eat good food, and don’t go out much,” Kuldeep recalled.
‘Breakfast With Champions’ Host Gaurav Kapur then made things fun as he asked them to name the best dancers in the Indian cricket contingent. And, the duo named Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, and Shikhar Dhawan as good dancers.
He also asked the duo about their moniker ‘Kul-Cha’ and how this name began. To this Chahal credited former India opener Virender Sehwag, saying that it was he who started this name.
“It was our first overseas series and he (Kuldeep) took 17 wickets and I took 16 wickets and we won the game in South Africa. So, it started from there. Viru bhai (Virender Sehwag) called us Kul-Cha or Cha-Ku. He said, ‘Call them by any name, they are equally effective,” Chahal said.
During the chat, Kuldeep and Chahal also talked about being each other’s go-to persons in tough times and said they are very close and share almost everything between them.
Gaurav then mentioned how earlier they used to play together and now only one could get a chance in the playing XI due to the combinations and asked if they ever felt competitive about the fact.
Chahal replied and said, “Our relationship is genuine. It’s not all about blood relations. The one who is performing well will play. Our equation is simple.”
Kuldeep also shared the advice of Rohit Sharma, the Indian captain, when he was undergoing rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru.
“When you come back, you have to do what I told you. You need not try anything new. Just work on it. How you do it is your outlook, approach a bowling coach or anyone for that matter but do what I told you,” he revealed.
(Indian Express inputs)
