'If you don't get chances, you start doubting yourself. 'What do I have to do?': Kuldeep reveals what went wrong at KKR

The spinner opened up on his time at the Kolkata Knight Riders and revealed what went wrong during the final years of his stint with the franchise.

The 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League saw a number of India stars making a resurgence with consistent performances. While Hardik Pandya, who had been away from international action since last year's T20 World Cup, made a brilliant return as captain to lead Gujarat Titans to the title, a 36-year-old Dinesh Karthik made his way back to Team India with explosive performances in the lower-middle order. One of such players was Kuldeep Yadav, who finished with 21 wickets in the season in 14 matches – the fourth-highest in the season.

Kuldeep Yadav playing for KKR. (IPL)

Kuldeep was picked by the Delhi Capitals for INR 2 crore in the mega auction preceding the season. The left-arm spinner had represented the Kolkata Knight Riders for eight seasons before switching clubs this year; however, his past few years at the franchise had been disappointing, to say the least. A lack of opportunities, coupled with injury in the previous edition saw Kuldeep making only 14 appearances in his last three years at the Knight Riders.

“I played for them for eight years. It was a family. I saw many good days, and many bad days there. It's not like the setup was bad. Baz had been a good coach. Sometimes, you don't find a place in the team. Sunil (Narine) has been the no.1 spinner for them over the years, then Varun (Chakravarthy) also had good performances. For me, a place for the third spinner wasn't there in the XI. So, I didn't get an opportunity,” Kuldeep told Sports Yaari.

“As a player, you would always want to play. If you don't get chances, you start doubting yourself. You start thinking, 'what do I have to do? How will I get an opportunity? How will I perform?' I didn't have a problem but I wasn't just fitting into their combination,” Kuldeep further said.

In the 2022 edition, Kuldeep played in all the matches for the Capitals and finished the season as their highest wicket-taker.