IPL 2021 | Been playing for KKR for last seven years, need to be more consistent, admits Kuldeep Yadav 

From being one of the top spinners in the world in white-ball cricket to not even making consistently in the XI of his franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, Kuldeep Yadav has had his struggles in the last couple of years. He has been quite ordinary for KKR and that has been a reason behind the side preferring other spinners ahead of him, even with lesser experience like Varun Chakravarthy. Given how less the side trusts him post his mediocre displays, it was expected that KKR might release him but that was not the case as they retained him ahead of the mini-auctions. 

Talking about his journey with KKR, the left-arm wrist-spinner said he needs to perform consistently and upgrade his game despite all the challenges thrown at him.

"I have been playing for KKR for seven years now, and being a senior player, I need to perform consistently. It is challenging but then you need to keep upgrading yourself so that you can maintain a standard always. It's actually important because franchise cricket is tough with all the expectations from the fans," Kuldeep said in a video posted by KKR, reported TOI. 

He has struggled largely since the 2019 World Cup but he feels that no one can do well all the time and failures are a way to gain experience. He also added that pressure makes him nervous and things always don't work out. 

"At some point you won't do well and that's the time you reflect and gain experience so that you don't repeat those errors in future. It is a kind of pressure, and of course, that makes me nervous because I want to give my best to my franchise in each game. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.

"It teaches you a few lessons too as you stay relaxed when you do well and when you don't play well, you get a chance to reflect on the errors. This is how you learn and cricket is a game where you can't keep performing well always," he said.