India and Delhi Capitals left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav shared an interesting anecdote during his time with the Mumbai Indians in 2012 which involved the legendary cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar. Despite not getting a chance to feature for the franchise in the fifth edition, Kuldeep shared the dressing room with numerous top-draw cricketers.
In 2012, the then 17-year-old Kuldeep, got his chance to join the franchise after playing in India’s U19 team. The left-arm spinner shared a rather interesting anecdote while bowling to India great, Tendulkar during one of the net sessions in his formative years.
“It was during that season only (IPL 2012) that I had broken into India’s U19 team. I was 17 years old. We had a series in Australia and I didn’t have a great experience. Paaji (Sachin Tendulkar) wanted an early net session and I bowled to him for the first time for about an hour. I did dismiss him too,” Kuldeep told on the ‘Breakfast with Champions’ show.
‘Such things will happen in future too and not to get disheartened’ – Kuldeep Yadav reflects on Tendulkar’s advice
Kuldeep further shared Tendulkar’s advice after the spinner endured a dismal outing in the series against the Aussies. He also shared that the Indian great advised him to stay away from the glitz and glamour that the IPL lifestyle gives and instead maintain a healthy routine to make strides in his career.
“I was very young so I opened up about my experience in the Australia series and how I bowled. Paaji made me understand that such things will happen in future too and not to get disheartened. He also told me about how to keep myself away from IPL’s lifestyle and keep a check on what I eat, sleep on time, etc,” he added.
The Uttar Pradesh-born spinner was signed by Delhi Capitals for INR 2 Crore at the 2022 mega auction. Speaking about his campaign in the ongoing edition, Kuldeep has featured in nine matches and collected eight wickets at an average economy of 6.74. Meanwhile, Delhi are languishing at the bottom of the IPL Points Table with three wins and six points.