Early and Domestic Career

Yadav was born and raised in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, the son of a brick kiln owner. In an interview, he revealed that it was his father who wanted him to continue playing cricket and even took him to a coach (Kapil Pandey). Inspired by bowling greats Wasim Akram and Zaheer Khan, he wanted to become a left-handed seamer. However, given his lanky stature, his coach insisted that he become a wrist-spin bowler as he was impressed by the spin and variations that he subconsciously displayed during the attempts. Since then, he started following videos of Shane Warne's bowling and made him his role model.

"I keep watching videos of Warne. His ball control, length of balls and use of the pitch are unbeatable. I try to learn from the footage.
- Kuldeep Yadav in an interview

Yadav also revealed that earlier in his life there was a dark phase when he thought of quitting cricket and committing suicide when he was not selected in the Uttar Pradesh U-15 team.

Kuldeep Yadav IPL Yadav was part of the Mumbai Indians squad in 2012 and was signed by the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014, whom he represented in the 2014 Champions League Twenty20.

In January 2018, Yadav was bought back by KKR in the 2018 IPL auction.

Kuldeep Yadav IPL 2020 In January 2020, Yadav was bought back by KKR in the 2020 IPL auction.

Kuldeep Yadav IPL 2022 In February 2022, he was bought by the Delhi Capitals in the auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament. Yadav won the player of the match award four times, most by any player that season.

International Career

Yadav was called up to the Indian cricket team for the match against the West Indies in October 2014, but did not appear in any match. In February 2017, he was called up to the Indian Test squad for the international match against Bangladesh. He made his Test debut for India on 25 March 2017 at the Dharamshala Cricket Stadium against Australia, taking four wickets in the first innings. Yadav is the first left-arm wrist spin bowler to represent the Indian national cricket team in Test cricket. He is also only the third bowler in Test cricket to take four wickets on debut.

In June 2017, Yadav was named in the Indian squad for a limited overs tour to the West Indies. On June 23, 2017, he made his debut for India in a One Day International (ODI) against the West Indies. However, in that match, he could not bowl a single over as the match ended scoreless due to rain during the first innings while India were batting. He did manage to fire in the next match of the series, taking three wickets. On 9 July 2017, he made his debut for India in a Twenty20 International (T20I) against the West Indies.

On September 21, 2017, Yadav became the third Indian bowler to score a hat-trick in an ODI after Chetan Sharma and Kapil Dev. He scored the hat-trick at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata against Australia.

On July 3, 2018, Yadav scored his first five-for in a T20I and also became the first left-arm wrist-spin bowler to take five wickets in a T20I during the first T20I against England and also became only the third Indian after Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to score a five-wicket haul in a T20I.

On July 12, 2018, during the first ODI against England, Yadav scored his first five-wicket haul in an ODI and also set a new record for the best bowling figures by a left-arm spin bowler in an ODI (6/25). He also broke Shahid Afridi's record for the best bowling figures by a spinner against England in ODIs and also broke Afridi's record for the best bowling figures by a spinner in an ODI in England.

On October 6, 2018, in the first Test against the West Indies, Yadav scored his first five-wicket haul in Tests.

After an impressive performance against Australia in the T20I series of India's 2018/19 tour of Australia, Kuldeep moved up 20 places to a new career-best third position in the MRF ICC T20I Bowlers Rankings, updated on November 26, 2018.

On January 6, 2019, in the fourth Test against Australia at the SCG and in Yadav's first Test match on Australian soil, he scored his second five-wicket haul (5/99) in Tests in Australia's first innings.

On February 11, 2019, Yadav moved to second in the T20I bowlers' rankings. In April 2019, he was named in India's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. On June 30, 2019, in the match against England, Kuldeep played his 50th ODI. On December 18, 2019, against West Indies, he became the first Indian bowler to score two hat-tricks in ODIs.

Yadav has been included in the Indian ODI squad for the 2023 Caribbean tour. He had a good series after poor form after the 2019 World Cup. He picked seven wickets at 8.71 and was retained in the squad for the Asia Cup that year. In India's first match against Pakistan, Yadav scored at rates of 5/25, becoming his country's only fifth bowler to take a five-wicket win against Pakistan, and helped his team win by 228 runs. In the following game against Sri Lanka, he delivered another match-winning performance of 4/43, in the process becoming the fastest Indian spinner to reach 150 ODI wickets in terms of games played (88), overtaking Anil Kumble. He finished with nine wickets; India won the tournament and Yadav was named player of the tournament.