"They retained him and didn't give him chances, that was shocking" - Kuldeep Yadav's childhood coach on the spinner's stint with KKR in the IPL

Kuldeep Yadav's childhood coach Kapil Dev Pandey feels the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) did not show enough trust in his student. The left-arm wrist-spinner was part of the two-time winners from 2014 to 2021.

He endured a bright start to his career in purple and gold, forging a formidable pair with Sunil Narine, which led to him being retained ahead of the auction.

However, Kuldeep Yadav lost his form and confidence in the 2019 season, which led to the franchise promoting Varun Chakravarthy as the second-choice spinner.

The left-arm spinner hit a new low when he was not given a single appearance in the 2021 campaign across two legs. Even with KKR playing three spinners at Chepauk, the management kept Harbhajan Singh and Shakib Al Hasan higher in the pecking order.

Believing that had Kuldeep Yadav been a part of KKR for even one more season, his career would have been hampered, coach Pandey said in an interview with the Times Of India:

"KKR did a very good thing by releasing Kuldeep. It worked really well in Kuldeep's favor. If Kuldeep was there for one more season, he would have been severely diminished as a cricketer. They (KKR) retained him for one year and then didn't give him chances, that was quite shocking."

The two-time winners proceeded to release Kuldeep Yadav ahead of the mega auction. They instead went with the quartet of Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer.

"I told him not to see the price he was bought for" - Kuldeep Yadav's childhood coach Kapil Dev Pandey

After being in the auction pool, the former U-19 player was roped in by the Delhi Capitals (DC) for a sum of ₹2 crore against his base price of ₹1 crore.

The bowler has had a stellar start with his new franchise. He is on course to have his best IPL campaign after already claiming 17 wickets in nine matches.

Advising his student not to focus on the price at which he was sold, coach Pandey said:

"When he was picked by DC in the last player auction (for his base price of Rs 2 Cr), I told him not to see the price he was bought for. I just said - 'you have got a wonderful team and set up and will get enough chances to showcase your talent'. He said - 'I just want to perform in the IPL and want to make a comeback to the Indian team in all formats'. He was hungry for chances."

The 27-year-old is in the hunt for the Purple Cap this season. He is only behind current holder Yuzvendra Chahal by a margin of two wickets.