'You will lose out on certain friendships,' Dinesh Karthik recounts sour relationship with Kuldeep Yadav during IPL

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Dhruv Kulkarni | Last updated 4/9/24

Dinesh Karthik joined Ravichandran Ashwin for his YouTube show, ‘Kutti Stories with Ash‘. The duo, who hail from the same state, had long discussions over the IPL and much more. During the episode, Karthik spoke about a major falling out he had with Kuldeep Yadav.

As KKR captain in 2018, Dinesh Karthik led Kuldeep Yadav for three seasons, but dropped him in 2019 and 2020 for his poor performances. Karthik revealed to R. Ashwin that he had a falling out with Yadav as he dropped him.

As a leader, you will lose out on certain friendships. During my time as KKR captain, Kuldeep (Yadav) 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 said

In 2018, Yadav picked up 17 wickets in 16 matches but saw a huge drop in form the next season. In 9 matches, he picked up only 4 wickets. The management finally dropped him after he conceded 59 runs against Royal Challenger Bengaluru, ending the season on a sour note.

The next season his poor form continued, as he managed to pick up only 1 wicket in 4 matches, eventually being dropped for Varun Chakavarthy. Yadav missed the 2021 IPL due to injury and KKR eventually released him in 2022, along with Karthik.

Dinesh Karthik recalls biggest regret in his IPL career

Mumbai Indians purchased Dinesh Karthik in 2012 and he played an integral part in winning their maiden IPL title in 2013. The next season was the season where IPL teams were only given five retainments, four slots for Indian players.

Karthik played an integral part in winning the IPL. MI wanted to retain him but he refused. He went on to play for Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) but the franchise released him the following season. Karthik claimed leaving MI was one of the two regrets he had, especially as he had the choice to stay.

I don't have much regrets in my cricket career - one will be the fact that I didn't want to get retained in 2013, MI could have really helped me grow & become an even better player. Dinesh Karthik said

Karthik claimed his 2nd biggest regret was not playing for Chennai Super Kings, the team based on his birthplace. During the same video, he assumed that CSK would pick him as he was from Chennai and his Tamil Nadu coach was also a part of the team management. He realized that he won’t be joining the team once MS Dhoni joined them.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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