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Delhi Capitals (DC) kicked off their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season with a thumping six-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday, and Cheteshwar Pujara praised the DC spinner Kuldeep Yadav's transformation.
Speaking on Star Sports, the former Indian cricketer noted that Kuldeep Yadav has gained confidence over the last two years. "Confidence plays a very important role in a bowler's performance. The way Kuldeep Yadav has bowled in the last two years is because of his confidence. He is bowling without any fear. There was a time when he didn't have much faith in his bowling, but those days are gone. When a bowler's confidence increases, he starts picking up wickets and the hunger to do well increases," Pujara said. Asked to bat first, LSG were bowled out for 141 thanks to the seamers Lungi Ngidi and T Natarajan's three wickets apiece. Riding on Sameer Rizvi's unbeaten 70 runs, DC chased down the target comfortably and started their campaign with an easy two points. Kuldeep Yadav picked up a couple of wickets, including the wicket of the opener batter Mitchell Marsh, who made 35 runs off 28 balls. For his second scalp, Yadav got rid of Mukul Choudhary with a soft 'caught and bowled dismissal'. Kuldeep was welcomed with a six by Marsh when he came to bowl the 10th over, but he got Marsh holed out in the deep on the third delivery of the over. Pujara said, "In Kuldeep's case, even if he gets hit for a six, he does not shy away from giving flight to the ball and bowling in the hitting zones to tempt the batter to play a rash stroke and get him out." "Kuldeep's confidence has improved a lot since joining DC. With confidence, his skill execution has seen an improvement too, and that was quite evident in the encounter against LSG," he concluded. Now, DC have secured five consecutive wins against LSG in the IPL, making them the third team against whom DC has achieved such a streak. (ANI)
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