'I was shocked to see myself go for those many runs' - Kuldeep Yadav recalls horrific bowling spell back from IPL 2019

India spinner Kuldeep Yadav recalled an awful over he bowled during the Indian Premier League (IPL) season. He has made an impressive return to Team India in recent months. Before his return, he faced various hurdles while playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL.

The left-arm spinner's inconsistency caused him to be in and out of the KKR lineup. During the 2019 IPL season, Moeen Ali hit 27 runs in an over bowled by him during KKR's match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. This particular incident crushed his confidence and he was then excluded from the team.

In the latest episode of 'Breakfast with Champions,' Kuldeep opened up about the incident. He mentioned that he had never gone for so many runs before and that he was startled to see himself go for so many runs.

“I hadn’t gone for that many runs before. He (Yuzvendra Chahal) had bowled a lot in Chinnaswamy so he was experienced. But I was shocked to see myself go for those many runs.

He went on to claim that he had previously underestimated batters. He added that Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya had called him and made him understand that such things keep happening in the game.

“I used to underestimate batters before. I thought that ‘How would a left-hander (Moeen Ali) hit me? I gave around 22-24 runs and suddenly the game seemed to be over. I never experienced anything like that. Rohit [Sharma] Bhai and Hardik [Pandya] Bhai too had called me and made me understand that such things happen," he added.

Kuldeep has found a fresh start after joining the Delhi Capitals (DC) and has been in outstanding form throughout the last two IPL seasons. He took 21 wickets in 14 games in the IPL 2022 and has taken eight wickets in nine games this season. He was instrumental in DC's previous match against defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) in which the David Warner-led side won by five runs.