IPL playerIndia2016 to 2026
Kuldeep Yadav
Right-hand bat
Kuldeep Yadav, a bowler, has played ten IPL seasons for two franchises. In ten seasons the title has not yet come.
The arrival
Kuldeep Yadav's first IPL season was 2016, with Kolkata Knight Riders, a signing made outside the auction.
That first season brought 3 matches and 6 wickets at 8.33 an over.
The peak
The best season was 2022, for Delhi Capitals: 21 wickets at 8.44 runs an over, while the league's bowlers went for 8.36, with best figures of 4 for 14. Four seasons brought 15 wickets or more (2018, 2022, 2024 and 2025).
Franchise by franchise
2016 to 2020, Kolkata Knight Riders. 45 matches and 40 wickets.
2022 to 2026, Delhi Capitals. Bought at the 2022 auction for ₹2 cr. 66 matches, 153 runs and 72 wickets.
2 spells with two franchises in all. The longest was with Kolkata Knight Riders, 2016 to 2020. 2021 is missing from the record: a season without an IPL appearance.
How the wickets came
With the ball, 112 wickets in 2,289 deliveries, at 8.28 runs an over against a league rate of 8.80 for the same seasons: 0.52 an over cheaper than the typical bowler of the time, the mark of a bowler who kept things tight. There were four four-wicket hauls, and the best figures were 4 for 14.
29.9% of the balls Kuldeep Yadav bowled were dots, a lower share than 93% of the 150 bowlers with 500 balls or more; a wicket came every 20.4 balls.
The fielding record: 14 catches and 3 run-outs.
At the auction
Kuldeep Yadav has gone under the hammer three times. The highest price was ₹5.80 cr, paid by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2018, more than 3 times the base price. The price climbed with the reputation: ₹40 lakh in 2014, ₹2 cr by 2022. Being bought did not always mean playing: no match followed for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014.
Seasons without an auction entry were played under a retention, a trade or a signing made outside the auction.
Where it stands
On the all-time IPL lists, among 810 players, Kuldeep Yadav stands 25th for wickets. The story is still being written: 2026 was another season with Delhi Capitals.
Season by season
| Season | Team | M | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50/100 | Wkts | Econ | Best | Ct | POTM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | 0/0 | 6 | 8.33 | 3/35 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 12 | 20 | 16 | 10.0 | 90.9 | 0/0 | 12 | 8.29 | 2/25 | 1 | ||
| 2018 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 16 | 12 | 7* | 12.0 | 50.0 | 0/0 | 17 | 8.14 | 4/20 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2019 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 9 | 12 | 10* | 12.0 | 150.0 | 0/0 | 4 | 8.67 | 2/41 | 2 | ||
| 2020 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 5 | 13 | 12 | 13.0 | 61.9 | 0/0 | 1 | 7.56 | 1/20 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | Delhi Capitals | 14 | 48 | 16* | 48.0 | 92.3 | 0/0 | 21 | 8.44 | 4/14 | 4 | 4 | |
| 2023 | Delhi Capitals | 14 | 31 | 10* | 15.5 | 64.6 | 0/0 | 10 | 7.37 | 2/15 | 1 | ||
| 2024 | Delhi Capitals | 11 | 47 | 35* | 15.7 | 114.6 | 0/0 | 16 | 8.62 | 4/55 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2025 | Delhi Capitals | 15 | 18 | 7 | 6.0 | 112.5 | 0/0 | 15 | 7.34 | 3/22 | 0 | ||
| 2026 | Delhi Capitals | 12 | 9 | 4 | 3.0 | 42.9 | 0/0 | 10 | 10.30 | 3/29 | 1 | 1 |
Franchise journey
- Kolkata Knight Riders: 2016 to 2020
- Delhi Capitals: 2022 to 2026
Ball-by-ball detail
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Dot balls faced | 49.8% |
| Balls per four | 14.1 |
| Balls per six | 84.3 |
| Dot balls bowled | 29.9% |
| Balls per wicket | 20.4 |
| Catches | 14 |
| Run-outs | 3 |
| Stumpings | 0 |
At the auction
| Auction | Set | Base price | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | USP1 | ₹10 lakh | Sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹40 lakh |
| 2018 | SP1 | ₹1.50 cr | Sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹5.80 cr |
| 2022 | SP1 | ₹1 cr | Sold to Delhi Capitals for ₹2 cr |
Sources
- CricArcade IPL season statistics
- CricArcade IPL auction archive
- Kaggle IPL Complete Match Dataset 2008-2026, ball-by-ball, cross-checked against Cricsheet