"Want to do something for Indian football...": Spinner Kuldeep opens up on ambitions of opening academy
Apr 30, 2024
New Delhi [India], April 30 : Delhi Capitals (DC) and Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav opened up on his desire to contribute to Indian football in future and his meeting with England football legend David Beckham during the ICC Cricket World Cup held at home last year.
Kuldeep was speaking on spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's YouTube channel on Tuesday. The spinner is known to be a football fan and has often shown support to his favourite clubs, like FC Barcelona on social media.
Speaking at the channel, Kuldeep revealed that he met Beckham when he was in India during the Cricket World Cup as a United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) goodwill ambassador and opened up on his admiration for former Manchester United players Gary Neville and Paul Scholes and ambition of becoming a football manager to him.
"I met him (Beckham) after the game (2023 WC against SL) and told him that I used to watch Manchester United because of Paul Scholes. I spoke a bit too directly (laughs). I also told him that I am a huge Gary Neville fan and requested him to let him know whenever he meets him. I told that after I finish my career I probably want to try being a football manager," said Kuldeep.
Kuldeep also said that in future, he wants to contribute for Indian football in future through an academy.
"I want to do something to Indian football in future - we have lots of potential but they are not getting the full resources so my aim is to start an academy" said Kuldeep.
Coming to the work front, Kuldeep is currently playing for DC in IPL 2024. In eight matches, he has picked up 12 wickets at an average of 15.50, with the best figures of 4/55. He is currently the joint-third-highest wicket-taker in the competition.
DC is in sixth place in the points table, with five wins and six losses. They have a total of 10 points. They lost to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets on Tuesday. DC's next game is against Rajasthan Royals on May 7 at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium.
