Team India's star spinner Kuldeep Yadav has had an eventful career so far – both, with the national team as well as in the Indian Premier League. Kuldeep was one of Team India's mainstays until the 2019 World Cup before he was dropped from the side; however, he made an impressive return across all formats last year, and remains a key part of the side – particularly in the limited overs. In the IPL, Kuldeep enjoyed some of his best years with the Kolkata Knight Riders before a series of inconsistent performances shortened his game time and his eventual unceremonious release from the franchise before the 2022 edition.However, it was Delhi Capitals that invested in him and Kuldeep didn't disappoint, taking 21 wickets in 14 matches. This year, the left-arm spinner has been in good form for the Capitals again, conceding at an economy rate of only 6.74 with eight wickets to his name in nine games so far.Kuldeep broke into the IPL in 2012 when he was picked by the Mumbai Indians, and even as it wasn't until four years later when he made his league debut, the spinner had major learnings on the bench at MI as he bowled to one of the greatest batters in the game, Sachin Tendulkar. During a chat with Gaurav Kapur on Breakfast with Champions, Kuldeep opened up on his conversation with Tendulkar during his maiden season, and revealed a huge advice from the ‘Master Blaster’ about the IPL.

Kuldeep recalled that he had a tour with U19 team before joining the MI side in IPL 2012, and had a conversation with Tendulkar after he bowled to the batting great in the nets.

“It was the 2012 season. I had entered the Indian U19 team, and during the IPL, I had a series in Australia but I didn't have a great experience there. In the afternoon, Sachin paaji had to bat. I bowled at him for about an hour, had even dismissed him. Then he talked to me for half an hour,” Kuldeep recalled.

“I was very young back then, so I was very outspoken. So, I started sharing things with him. I told him how I had a bad experience in Australia, I bowled poorly. So, he tried to motivate me that it was just a start and that I will face such situations many times in the future. Then he talked about the IPL... He told me to beware about the lifestyle in IPL, sleep on time, eat well, don't roam around too much because a lot of people will approach you,” he said.