‘Don’t let the IPL lifestyle affect you’: Sachin Tendulkar’s advice to young Kuldeep Yadav

Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav revealed what advice Sachin Tendulkar gave him during his initial Indian Premier League (IPL) days.
Kuldeep Yadav, alongside teammate and best friend Yuzvendra Chahal appeared on the show ‘Breakfast With Champions’ where they talked about a variety of things including some greats of the game, TV soaps, pranks they pulled and more.
Sharing an anecdote from his early IPL days, Kuldeep revealed that former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar advised him to be careful about the IPL lifestyle, eat healthy and not go out much.
“In 2012, we had a series in Australia. I came after playing that series. I didn’t have a good experience. In the evening, we had net practice and Paaji (Sachin Tendulkar) wanted to bat earlier then I bowled him for the first time for an hour and I got him out,” he said.
“He spoke to me for an hour. I was very young then and I was quite frank. I told him that I didn’t have a good experience. He (Sachin Tendulkar) said that it’s just the beginning, it will happen many times.”

“He told me to be careful of the IPL lifestyle, sleep on time, eat good food, and don’t go out much,” he revealed.
The focus then shifted to a fun segment where host Gaurav Kapur asked the duo to pick the best dancers in the Indian cricket contingent. And, the duo named Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur and Shikhar Dhawan as good dancers.
When asked how were they named “Kul-Cha,” Chahal revealed that it was during a series in 2018 when former India batter Virender Sehwag started addressing them it.
“It was our first overseas series and he (Kuldeep) took 17 wickets and I took 16 wickets and we won the game in South Africa. So, it started from there.”
“Viru bhai (Virender Sehwag) called us Kul-Cha or Cha-Ku. He said, ‘call them any name, they are equally effective.’”
When asked about their go-to persons during their tough times, the duo named each other and said they are very close and share almost everything between them.
The host later in the interview pointed out that earlier they used to play together and now only one could get a chance in the playing XI due to the combinations and asked if they ever felt competitive about the fact.

To which, Chahal replied and said, “Our relationship is genuine. It’s not all about blood relations. The one who is performing well will play. Our equation is simple.”
Kuldeep, then shared India skipper Rohit Sharma’s advice when he was undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA in Bengaluru.
“When you come back, you have to do what I told you. You need not try anything new. Just work on it. How you do it is your outlook, approach a bowling coach or anyone for that matter but do what I told you,” he revealed.