Being a captain of any team is certainly a difficult job because a captain has to make some tough decisions for his team and in the process, his relationships with his teammates can turn sour.
Dinesh Karthik is currently playing for RCB in the IPL 2024 but in 2018, he was signed in by KKR for leading the team and DK feels that during his captaincy, his relations with Kuldeep Yadav turned sour because DK had to talk tough to him.
Kuldeep made his debut (2016) for KKR under Gautam Gambhir’s captaincy and KKR bought him back in the mega-auctions of 2018. Kuldeep performed pretty well in 2018, took 17 wickets in 16 matches but in 2019 his form took a dip and in two seasons he played only 14 matches and took only 5 wickets. During this time, Kuldeep also lost his place in the Indian team and this was the phase when DK had some tough conversation with Kuldeep Yadav.
While speaking to Indian spinner R Ashwin, DK said, “Leading a franchise is altogether a different job. There are many other cultures, and you will find it challenging to deal with other individuals. You can be very honest with them. As a leader, you will lose out on certain friendships.”
He further said, “During my time as KKR captain, Kuldeep was not doing as well as he is right now. There were tough conversations with him, and I don’t think he would have appreciated me at that stage. I had to be tough with him.”
Dinesh Karthik strongly feels that the bad phase made Kuldeep a better bowler which he is today, DK said, “It was a hard time for Kuldeep. I think those tough times have made him a better bowler today. My bad luck is that I had to be a part of that bad phase in his life. I hope he understands what I did. I do not want him to appreciate it and be ok with it. You have to make decisions for the team and there was nothing personal.”
Let’s see whether Kuldeep Yadav will react to it or not.
