Indian left arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s youth coach has criticized former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik for not giving the former more chances in the lineup during his stint with the two-time winning Indian Premier League franchise .
“When he was at Kolkata and Karthik was the captain, he only gave him 1-2 overs per match. Now he says Kuldeep is his favorite Indian bowler,” Kuldeeps coach Kapil Pandey told Sportskeeda.
He added, ‘Favorite tha toh usko khelaya kyu nahi? Usko khilate? (If he was your favorite bowler, why didn’t you play him?) But that’s okay, that’s over now and I believe the future will be great for Kuldeep.’
Great last few weeks with the boys. Super happy and proud of what we have achieved as a team. I look forward to the next one. 🙌🏻🏆#TeamIndia 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/PYx2PNQZkP
—Kuldeep yadav (@imkuldeep18) December 25, 2022
Kuldeep recently played in the first Test against Bangladesh and marked his comeback in India’s Whites by picking eight wickets, including a fifer in the first innings. However, the Chinese spinner was dropped for the second game in India’s 2-0 win.
“Despite being man of the match I didn’t know how to console him when he was dropped in the second test as I was in tears myself. But the way he told me to be patient and to keep trusting that it will all work out in the end shows how mature he has become,” said Pandey.
Speaking about his return to India after a successful IPL 2022 campaign, Pandey also suggested that head coach Rahul Dravid, captain Rohit Sharma and former skipper Virat Kohli played a big part in it.
“When he got injured and was with the NCA Rohit Sharma had supported him and of course Dravid has provided the same support. So the captain, coach and even the senior players like Virat Kohli play a big role in supporting him and helping him make a comeback.”