The last couple of years haven’t been easy for Kuldeep Yadav as his performance graph went down.

The mystery chinaman spinner could not even find regular opportunities while playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, let alone get his chances for the national team.

However, Kuldeep has made a big statement while making his debut for Delhi Capitals in the team’s opening match against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022. The left-arm wrist-spinner from Uttar Pradesh scalped three wickets and conceded only 18 runs in his quota of four overs.

Yadav accounted for Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, and Anmolpreet Singh in his fine spell for Delhi Capitals. Ergo, he played a key role in keeping Mumbai Indians to 177 runs after Rishabh Pant won the toss and decided to bowl first.

Kuldeep revealed that he has worked hard on his bowling and had discussions with Ricky Ponting on what pace to bowl. The left-arm spinner stated that he has worked hard on his bowling and also tried to vary his pace to get the better of the opposition batters.

Kuldeep was awarded the Player of the Match for his fine bowling performance as Delhi Capitals defeated Mumbai Indians by four wickets.

Kuldeep said after the game, “It was a difficult time for me. I was out with an injury for five months. It was important for me to go for the rehab and thanks to the facilities and trainers at the NCA, I recovered very well and in time to get back into the Indian set up. And slowly I started match preparation and when I started playing the games, I got the confidence and Rohit motivated me a lot. Whatever changes need to be done, I had that communication with him. And here in the Delhi set up I spoke to Ricky (Ponting) and he backed me a lot. I was lacking rhythm for a long time and I worked on my rhythm a lot and never compromised on turning the ball despite the variation in pace.”

There is no doubt that Kuldeep Yadav must have grown in confidence after such a fine performance and it would have done him a world of good. Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals was struggling at 72-5 in the run-chase however good knocks from Shardul Thakur, Lalit Yadav, and Axar Patel helped the franchise in getting over the line.

Delhi Capitals will next face Gujarat Titans on Saturday at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.