‘I myself was in tears’ – Childhood coach of Kuldeep Yadav opens up on spinner’s snub in 2nd Test vs Bangladesh

Kuldeep Yadav, the left-arm wrist spinner, was the Player of the Match in the first Test against Bangladesh and much to the dreariness of the fans, the cricketer was dropped for the second Test to make way for Jaydev Unadkat, who made a Test comeback after almost a decade, on the back of his continued stupendous run in the domestic formats. 

Kapil Pandey, the childhood of the veteran cricketer, opened up on Kuldeep getting dropped time and time again and said that he was left clueless about the same. Saying that he was not in a position to console the left-arm spinner, Pandey claimed that he himself was in tears after getting to know about the news. 

“We all want Team India to win and that’s the ultimate goal. I completely understand that the captain and coach try and make a combination to help the team win. But then it is not right to keep one of your match-winners on the bench. How long will this continue? No Indian would want the Indian team to lose. But at the same time, a player who has done well in the little chances that he received deserves a longer rope,” Pandey was quoted as saying to Sportskeeda. 

He has understood that he needs to focus on the process: Kapil Pandey

Saying that Kuldeep has become mature over time, Pandey added that the player now responds positively, rather than worry about the lack of opportunities. Further, Pandey hoped for a turn of events in the approaching year and fans, on the other hand, left no stone unturned to slam team India coach Rahul Dravid for the poor decision. 

“Kuldeep has become a lot more patient with time. Initially, I used to worry a lot about this kid when he didn’t used to get the deserved chances. He has two ODI hattricks, one hattrick for India A and also one more in the U19 World Cup,” Pandey was quoted as saying. 

“Despite being the Man of the Match, when he was dropped in the second Test, I didn’t know how to console him because I myself was in tears. But the way he told me to stay patient and keep faith that things will work out eventually, shows how matured he has become,” he added.