Kuldeep Yadav accepted that he didn’t have a great IPL 2026, but was happy to end the season on a high, picking up 3 for 29 and helping Delhi Capitals finish a disappointing campaign on a high with a 40-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders.

“I wasn’t happy before this match, because we wanted as a team to have a great season, but we couldn’t finish in that top four slot,” Kuldeep said after picking up the player-of-the-match award. “Personally, I thought I didn’t have a great season, to be very honest. I was expecting more from myself, but I couldn’t deliver this season.”

Before the KKR clash, Kuldeep had managed just seven wickets in ten innings, averaging 50.28 and going at an economy rate of 10.66. Axar Patel, after DC’s loss against Chennai Super Kings two weeks back, even commented that “when we were bowling, I missed my partner Kuldeep” after the game.

Kuldeep said that he went back to his hometown after DC’s previous game and worked with his coach, trying to get back his rhythm and even played a practice game. The move worked wonders against his former franchise and at a ground where he has had a lot of success.

“After the last game, I went back home and I worked with my coach on what are the things I need to work on are, and I played one game over there. Just the small things which you forget very quickly, especially in white ball,” Kuldeep said. “To go there and work on those sort of things, and to come back here and bowl like that, it was lovely to see.

“When I spoke to my coach, he was very straightforward with me and said, ‘you need to spin the ball, try to deceive the batter. I know, I understand the batter is going strong against you, but when you’re spinning the ball, you have a chance to get them out’. And I wasn’t using my full body in the last couple of games. I thought I bowled well in patches, but yeah, something you miss, especially in your run-up or in rhythm, ultimately affects your game.”

On further opening up on the areas he lacked throughout the tournament, Kuldeep said: “I thought I was bowling a bit more open chest, and sometimes you’re not using your full body. I just pushed the ball, and that’s where the T20 batters are extremely strong to hit deep down the ground and play back foot. Once you start using more of your body and try to spin the ball harder, and ultimately you see the result, you get the dip and the drift, and obviously you can vary the pace as well. So it was lovely to see. I think it was a lovely game for me, because coming back from the last game.”

Kuldeep picked up a wicket on just his fourth ball, with Cameron Green mistiming to long-off. He then picked two wickets in two balls, first Ajinkya Rahane slicing a tossed-up ball down the ground and then Rinku falling for a first-ball duck with Tristan Stubbs hanging on to a stunner.

“I was very clear with my plan. I saw the wicket, the first thing, that it was a bit slow, and I was just trying to vary the pace and mix it up with a scrambled seam, and trying to deceive the batter,” Kuldeep said. “The wicket of Rinku was a perfect example, because I tried to slow it down through the air, and he played it straight away. So it was a good ball to get him out.”

On a ground where he already has an ODI hat-trick against Australia, Kuldeep should have had an IPL hat-trick as well, when he went around the wicket and got Tejasvi Dahiya to feather through to the wicketkeeper, but Abhishek Porel dropped a straightforward catch.

“It happens in the game, but I’m very happy with the performance,” Kuldeep said. “It’s just part of the game, whether you get a hat-trick or not, but the way I bowled, I’m pleased now.”