In the 49th match of the Indian Premier League, Kolkata Knight Riders chinman bowler Kuldeep Yadav ended up with his career best figure of 4/20 and helped his team defeat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Talking about the match and his performance, Kuldeep Yadav told the reporters that his idol, legendary Shane Warne, motivated him to produce his career-best performance in the league.

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Before Tuesday, Kuldeep was struggling in the ongoing season of the IPL with just nine wickets under his belt and at an economy rate of 8.5.

“I’m always a big fan of him (Warne). He has been my idol. I always get a different kind of motivation when I play in front of him. I wanted to put up a good show in front of him,” Kuldeep said at the post-match news conference.

Kuldeep cleaned up the top order with a wicket in each of his four overs to bowl out Rajasthan for 142 in 19 overs.

It was redemption time for Kuldeep last night as he first got Rajasthan skipper Ajinkya Rahane out bowled with a loopy googly, and then dismissed dangerman Jos Buttler.

In his next two overs, Kuldeep got Stuart Binny stumped with another googly before accounting for the wicket of Ben Stokes.

India’s frontline spinner in limited over formats, Kuldeep said Warne also gave him tips for the upcoming series in England.

“I discussed with him after the match. I have already started my planning for the upcoming England series. But it was a brief conversation. Maybe after the IPL, I will again get a chance to talk to him,” Kuldeep said.

Kuldeep made a wonderful Test debut against Australia in Dharamshala in March 2017, when he returned with figures of 4-68 in the Australian first innings but since then he has played just one more Test.

He has been named in the next month’s one-off Test against Afghanistan in Bengaluru.

Insisting that he is a wicket-taking bowler, Kuldeep said his defensive mindset against Mumbai Indians in their previous game in Kolkata cost him dear.

“Maybe my mindset became a bit defensive and thought of restricting the flow of runs. But I’m not the kind of a bowler who stops the flow of runs. If I attack at the batsmen, most of the times I get wickets. My strength is to keep looking for wickets,” he said.

Kuldeep said Buttler’s wicket was special for him as it proved to be the turning point in the game.

“If he had played for 10 more overs, the score would have been 170-180. Everything went according to my plan. For me it was the best wicket,” he said.

KKR will head to Hyderabad tomorrow to take on leaders Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last round-robin league match on May 19.

“We have to win the next match straightaway. That’s important for us, then only we stand a chance to qualify,” he signed off.

-With PTI inputs.