When India picked four spinners in their 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup 2024, captain Rohit Sharma had refused to answer the reason behind their selection. Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are part of Indian squad for the marquee event co-hosted by the USA and the Caribbean islands.
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Fast forward to today and it’s pretty clear why Rohit wanted four spinners as they have played a significant role in India’s qualification into the world cup final.
Kuldeep and Axar have been in top form having taken 10 and eight wickets respectively. While Axar and Ravindra Jadeja have played every match of the ongoing tournament, Kuldeep started playing from the Super 8 stage.
Together, the duo has forged quite a partnership bamboozling opponents and were especially effective against England in the second semi-final on a slow and low pitch where they shared six wickets.
India will now face South Africa in the final on Saturday in Bridgetown and former India cricketer Sarandeep Singh has predicted that Kuldeep alongside Axar will be the two main weapons for the former champoions.
“If you ask me, who are the two players who will win it for India in the final, I will say Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. They are outright match-winners in spin-friendly conditions,” Sarandeep told news agency PTI.
Sarandeep feels Kuldeep will run through the South African middle-order comprising Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller.
“We have the world’s best spinners at the moment. Look at the way Kuldeep and Axar came in, they are winning all the games. They are unplayable. Everyone is talking about Kuldeep. He is going to destroy the South African middle order,” he said.
“He (Kuldeep) has done it against Australia (in Super 8s) and England (in semifinals). Now it’s the turn of South Africa. Axar is also a very dangerous slow left-arm orthodox bowler. An outright match-winner. Indian spinners will win the final,” he added.
Axar, Sarandeep says, makes the task easier for his fellow teammates by bowling the difficult overs in the Powerplay.
“Axar starts getting wickets from the sixth over. It’s not easy for Axar to bowl in powerplay. He comes, bowls, and makes things easy for the rest of the bowlers. Kuldeep and Axar are complementing each other so well,” he said.
“The wickets in West Indies are not easy to play especially if you have world-class spinners like Kuldeep and Axar. It was not easy for England, it will not be easy for South Africa as well,” he added.
He also pointed out India’s performance has vindicated Rohit’s decision to pack the squad with quality spinners.
“Rohit opted for four spinners but (Yuzvendra) Chahal is not in the scheme of things. The reason is, others have done their job exceedingly well. (Ravindra) Jadeja is the senior-most player but he is not coming into powerplay. Axar knows how to bowl in these conditions. He is the best option for us to bowl into the powerplay. He is giving the results as well,” Sarandeep said.
South Africa have quality spinners of their own in Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj. Sarandeep feels they will challenge the Indian middle-order batters.
“Yes they will. Keshav and Shamsi are also very good. Let’s see how Indian batsmen handle the spinners. India has a very strong middle order. India has left-handers like Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Axar, and Jadeja. Four left-handers in the middle order. It will be interesting to see how Maharaj and Shamsi are going to tackle them. And vice-versa. This will be a big challenge for them also,” he said.
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