Kuldeep Yadav's dream spell on Sunday blew away his erstwhile team Kolkata Knight Riders as Delhi Capitals emerged victorious by 44 runs at the Brabourne Stadium. The left-arm spinner returned with the figures of 4-35, which was his second-best spell in the history of the IPL. Kuldeep dismissed Shreyas Iyer, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine and Umesh Yadav and this spell helped Delhi Capitals stay on top and in the end, KKR fell 44 runs short of the target.
Kuldeep's best spell in the IPL is 4-20 against the Rajasthan Royals in 2018 while playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Kuldeep had a difficult time with KKR in the past few seasons as he warmed the bench on most occasions. But the spinner celebrated animatedly after taking the wickets of KKR batters.
The left-arm spinner had played nine games for KKR in the 2019 season and then he appeared in just five matches in the following season. In 2021, the spinner missed the tournament due to an injury and was later released by the side ahead of the mega auction.
Following Kuldeep's match-winning performance against his former team, Twitter went into a frenzy with fans hailing him. Even former India batter Wasim Jaffer trolled KKR with a hilarious meme.
Earlier, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif had criticised KKR for their treatment of Kuldeep Yadav.
While speaking to Sportskeeda, he said: "Kuldeep Yadav is a proven match-winner. But he is someone who also needs to be managed well. He is a bit emotional and feels low if he isn't given the bowling or is dropped from the team. The way he was treated at KKR when Dinesh Karthik and Eoin Morgan were the captains, he used to be made to sit at home and not even in the squad. When you behave like this, any match-winner feels the pressure."
In the match between KKR and DC, the former won the toss and opted to field first. David Warner and Prithvi Shaw played knocks of 61 and 51 as Delhi Capitals posted 215/5 in 20 overs.
For KKR, Sunil Narine returned with two wickets. Chasing 216, KKR kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Shreyas Iyer was the top-scorer for KKR as he played a knock of 54 runs off 33 balls.
With this win, Delhi registered their second victory of the ongoing season while KKR suffered their second loss this season.