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Wrist spin duo making waves

India's Chahal, Kuldeep have made rapid strides in their brief careers
Last Updated 19 September 2017, 18:22 IST

In the ongoing experiments to identity a core group for the 2019 World Cup, India have chanced upon a potent spin duo with the potential to make telling contributions.

Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who made his one-day international debut against Zimbabwe last June, and young chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who earned his ODI cap against West Indies this June, have grabbed their opportunities with both hands to make a strong case for themselves in the highly competitive sphere of Indian cricket.

Making the cut for the series against Sri Lanka in place of ace off-spinner R Ashwin -- who is battling it out for Worcestershire in county cricket — and Ravindra Jadeja — who incidentally has been brought back in place of injured Axar Patel — can never be easy but Chahal and Kuldeep have now become skipper Virat Kohli’s primary wicket-taking options, especially in the crucial middle overs.

Both wrist-spinners operate in pretty much the same way. Attack-minded and ready to take some beating for the sake of wickets, the duo has derailed the opposition’s momentum with their courage and tenacity. Even if they get carted around for a few boundaries, they don’t back down and keep going at the batsmen, eventually luring them to their doom.

Chahal’s strength is his control. Leg-spin is a difficult art but the deceptive Chahal hardly errs with his teasing trajectory, constantly probing the batsmen. He doesn’t possess too many variations like a potent googly or a great top-spinner but he has mastered the art of forcing the batsmen into committing harakiri, often having them caught in the deep while they try to go big. He’s skiddy in nature and uses line and length as his primary weapon.

Playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore alongside Virat Kohli has also helped Chahal, a junior level chess player, rise as a bowler. For a long time it seemed like he would be lost to Indian cricket but his move to RCB in 2014 has seen him make a brilliant turnaround. Chahal emerged as the highest wicket-taker for RCB in 2015 and 2016 editions and Kohli watching him from close quarter has helped his cause.

Kuldeep, just 22 years old, has thrived on his uniqueness — there aren’t too many chinaman bowlers in world cricket now. At times he releases his stock delivery — the chinaman — with such fizz that the sharp turn leaves even top-class batsmen rattled. Despite cutting his teeth at the senior level only recently, he’s already learnt to disguise his wrong’un well with many batsmen finding it hard to pick him. Such has been his impact in just six months of international cricket, the Aussies sweated it out against Kerala chinaman bowler K K Jiyas in Chennai to help prepare themselves for Kuldeep.

Kohli felt he’s blessed to have Chahal and Kuldeep in such good form. “It is a great advantage to have two wrist spinners in your team, especially when both are so different to each other and both can pick up wickets in the middle overs. That is the most important thing in one-day cricket. You can have as many dot balls as you want but if you can’t pick up wickets you can go for 10-12 runs an over. It is important to keep picking wickets and have breakthroughs throughout. Those two guys have provided that to us and they are very confident. They are in a zone where they don’t mind getting hit as long as they pick up 3-4 wickets which I think is a very good space to be in and it’s something that gives me as a captain a lot of confidence.”

With selectors seemingly consigning Ashwin for a major role in Test cricket and rotating Jadeja in a jam-packed calendar, one can envision Chahal and Kuldeep playing a more active role in limited-overs along with Axar. Having played just eight ODIs each, they are raw to international cricket and their challenge somewhat begins now as batmen study them and come better prepared in future.

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(Published 19 September 2017, 18:22 IST)

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