'He believed in us, gave freedom to each and everyone' - Kuldeep Yadav extols David Warner's captaincy at Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals (DC) spinner Kuldeep Yadav was full of praise for skipper David Warner after their second consecutive win in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). DC defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by seven runs in Match 34 of the IPL 2023 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday, April 24. Many people were startled by Warner's decision to bat first, but it proved to be the correct option in the end.

However, Kuldeep heaped praise on Warner's decision to bat first after winning the toss. The 28-year-old stated that the Australian has played in the IPL for seven years and is familiar with the conditions, which is why he chose to bat first. He added that the Australian opener had faith in the DC bowlers and gave them freedom during the match against SRH. 

“He has played here for seven years. He knows the conditions well and that’s why he opted to bat first. Wicket was slow and he thought it probably is difficult to chase. As a bowling unit, he believed in us. He gave freedom to each and everyone,” Kuldeep was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

We still need to improve in our batting: Kuldeep

The DC spinner went on to say that the bowlers believed in themselves, but admitted that the team's batting needed to improve. The 28-year-old claimed that DC bowled brilliantly during the powerplay, conceding only 35-36 runs. He went on to say that following him and Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje and Mukesh Kumar bowled effectively and led the way for DC to win.

“We believed it as a team and as a bowling unit, we had done really throughout the tournament. We still need to improve in our batting. We didn’t get a wicket in the pack but we bowled really well throughout the 20 overs. We kept the pressure on them by not giving the easy boundaries. I thought we really bowled well in the powerplay, gave away on 35-36 runs. Thereafter myself and Axar, we just kept us in the game in the middle phase and in the last four overs, Nortje and Mukesh bowled exceptionally well," he added.

Kuldeep also lauded Mukesh Kumar, who bowled the match's final over and defended 13 runs, stating that bowling in the death overs is never easy. Meanwhile, Kuldeep conceded 22 runs in four overs and grabbed one wicket.