With 2023 being the year of the ODI World Cup, the Indian team management has been steadily zeroing in on a squad for the marquee tournament and for that they have been trying to maintain a level of consistency in selection of players.
With the world cup being held in India this time around, the home team surely will have the advantage. They will be more familiar with the conditions than others and know how much of a role spinners will be playing.
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And India head coach Rahul Dravid knows the advantage of playing a wrist spinner, especially in the middle overs. They have been blessed with a couple of quality options in that department – Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
A cursory glance at the playing XIs of the eight ODIs played by India this year will clearly indicate that it’s the left-arm spin of Kuldeep that has been given the preference over Chahal’s leg-spin.
While the 28-year-old Kuldeep has played in all eight ODIs of 2023 so far, Chahal has featured in just two (one each vs Sri Lanka and New Zealand).
And Dravid has confirmed that it will be Kuldeep who will be given a long rope as of now. “Obviously having a wrist spinner, if he is bowling well, is a huge advantage. Taking wickets in the middle overs is important. A wrist spinner gives that chance to be attacking and take wickets in the middle overs which is why have given Kuldeep a pretty consistent run,” Dravid said on Tuesday.
“We have Yuzi (Chahal), who is unfortunately is a very fine bowler and is missing out. At the moment, we believe in giving people a consistent run before we make decisions and Kuldeep is the one that is getting the run over the last few games,” he added.
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Dravid though isn’t certain whether the pitches during the world cup will aid the spinners. “We are always presuming that the wickets will spin in India. We just actually presume. I don’t think the last two spun at all. We never know what we are going to get in the World Cup,” Dravid said.
“In the league phase, nine cities, it is in October, the wickets won’t be as tired as they probably are in the IPL and (that too) at the back-end of our summer. You just have to get all your bases covered,” he added.
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