"Favorite tha to usko khilaaya kyu nahi?" - Kuldeep Yadav's coach slams Dinesh Karthik, KKR for ill-treating Kuldeep

Kuldeep Yadav's success with the Delhi Capitals (DC) in IPL 2022 made many fans believe that he wasn't treated well by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

The left-arm wrist-spinner played just 13 games in his last three seasons with KKR, including just four in IPL 2020 and a grand total of zero games in IPL 2021.

Fans were furious to see Kuldeep Yadav being benched by KKR to play the spin duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, his coach Kapil Pandey opened up on the way Kuldeep was treated during his last two seasons at Kolkata.

Former KKR captain Dinesh Karthik praised Kuldeep Yadav for his fantastic performances during IPL 2022 and said that he loved watching him bowl. However, Kuldeep's coach was still disappointed with the way the spinner was treated by Kolkata under 'DK'. Here's what Kapil Pandey told Sportskeeda:

"When he was with Kolkata and Karthik was the captain, he used to give him just 1-2 overs each game. Now he says that Kuldeep is his favorite Indian bowler.

Favorite tha to usko khilaaya kyu nahi? Usko khilaate? (If he was your favorite bowler then why didn't you play him?) But that’s okay, that’s past now and I believe the future will be great for Kuldeep."

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Kapil Pandey credits Delhi Capitals for getting the best out of Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav seemed like a completely different bowler with the Delhi Capitals during the 2022 IPL season.

He received plenty of backing from captain Rishabh Pant and also from head coach Ricky Ponting. Pandey spoke about how other legends in the DC setup like Shane Watson backed Kuldeep and gave him the confidence to perform at his best again.

The left-arm spinner repaid the faith shown in him by picking a staggering 21 wickets from 14 games. On this, his coach said:

"He used to be badly neglected in Kolkata, but it has been the complete opposite in Delhi. Rishabh Pant, Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson and others have backed and supported him and that really helped him play freely.

"Ponting told him that he will play all games, and when you hear this as a bowler, your morale gets boosted. Rishabh also backed him in all situations and so he deserves a lot of praise for Kuldeep’s comeback."

Kapil Pandey was heartbroken when he found out about the news that Rishabh Pant met with a horrific car accident a few days ago. The wicketkeeper is now out of danger and Pandey has wished for his speedy recovery. He added:

"I heard about Rishabh’s accident and am feeling really bad for him. I hope that he recovers quickly and God gives him the strength to put this traumatic phase behind him.

"He is an important player for India and for Delhi and I hope he comes back in IPL 2023 and helped Delhi win the title with Kuldeep."

It will be interesting to see who Delhi appoint as their captain for the IPL 2023 season if Pant doesn't recover in time.