Kuldeep Yadav's Birthday Message For Gautam Gambhir Raises Eyebrows, Fans Say Spinner Took A Dig At Dinesh Karthik

Kolkata Knight Riders star Kuldeep Yadav has raised a number of eyebrows with his birthday message for his former IPL skipper Gautam Gambhir. The former India and KKR opener turned 39 on Wednesday and as expected messages poured in from all the quarters.

Kuldeep Yadav could not share the Indian dressing room with Gambhir but did play under his captaincy in the IPL. The left-arm spinner made his IPL debut in 2016 when Gambhir was leading the franchise. Kuldeep Yadav had made an instant impact that season by taking 6 wickets in three games.

In the following season, he became an integral part of the team as he played 12 games and picked up as many wickets. But in 2018, Gambhir’s highly successful association with KKR came to an end as he signed up for Delhi Capitals before announcing his retirement from all forms of the game in the same year.

And with things not turning out in a way Kuldeep Yadav would have expected in recent times, the chinaman spinner seems to be missing his former captain. The India star, on Wednesday, took to Twitter to wish Gambhir on his birthday and made sure to point out that the former KKR skipper always showed ‘great faith’ in him, writing:

“To the man who always showed great faith in me and from whom I learnt so much about the game. Happy Birthday @GautamGambhir bhai. May god bless you.”

To the man who always showed great faith in me and from whom I learnt so much about the game. Happy Birthday @GautamGambhir bhai. May god bless you.?? pic.twitter.com/PDRhtZtYd4

— Kuldeep yadav (@imkuldeep18) October 14, 2020

A shot at Dinesh Karthik:

Soon after Kuldeep Yadav posted his message, a number of fans were convinced that it was a shot at current KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik who has not shown great faith in the spinner. Last year, Kuldeep Yadav played just 9 games and was dropped by KKR for the business end of the competition.

The ongoing season is turning out to be the same for the spinner. While KKR has played 7 games so far, Kuldeep has played only three as the team-management has shown faith in Varun Chakravarthy.

Here are some of the reactions from the fans:

Direct attack on DK na https://t.co/J0Gx3QPfDt

— MI Buddhan (@narengiri2) October 14, 2020

But dk isn’t giving enough chances he’s giving chance to his state spinner https://t.co/nPAB1qB1kF

— Sculptor (@Rkaadhf1) October 14, 2020

Dig at dk or baz or Morgan!?

— Only Cricket/ #ipl2020 (@cricket_stan) October 14, 2020

Leave This Team Sir
They Dont Deserve You??

— Reethik?? (@reethikpal27) October 14, 2020

Sly at DK https://t.co/4fPI8ktT2r

— tony allen (@joeys_chandler) October 14, 2020

KKR needs Gambhir/Morgan as captain to realise Kuldeep’s worth. https://t.co/WWk5RGeAqL

— Jaanvi ? (@ThatCric8Girl) October 14, 2020

And there’s DK who dropped you https://t.co/tAxl16SRMU

— ? (@Flour_spar) October 14, 2020

As far as KKR’s position in the ongoing tournament is concerned, they are currently at the fourth spot with four wins from seven games. They suffered a crushing 82-run loss at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore in their previous outing. Chasing 195, KKR could only manage 112 for 9.

The Dinesh Karthik-led side will be in action again on Friday when it locks horns against table-toppers and defending champions Mumbai Indians. KKR have already lost to Mumbai Indians once in the tournament and will be looking to avenge the loss this week.

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