Harbhajan Singh decrypts the Kuldeep-Chahal puzzle

Team India is having a merry time in international cricket. They have been dominating the Test arena for quite some time now. And more recently, they have expanded their dominion in the shorter formats of the game too. Two players who have played in pivotal role in India’s rise in white ball cricket are Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

The two wrist spinners have been wreaking havoc whilst bowling in tandem. Their mayhem was there to be seen in South Africa when their exploits helped India crush the Proteas 5-1 last year. What this has effectively done is that the need of a finger spinner is not really felt in the side. Veteran cricketer Harbhajan Singh recently spoke at length about the deteriorating importance of the finger spinners in world cricket.

As per the quotes in Sportstar, Harbhajan Singh remarked that the wrist spinners have a lot of options because of which they are hard to play against. On the contrary, the finger spinners have just one odd variation, which is why even the likes of Nathan Lyon have struggled in white ball cricket.

“It’s simple, wrist spinners have three basic variations. Leg-break, googly (wrong-un) and the flipper. If you add top spinner, which is rarely used in ODIs, it becomes four. Now come to an off-spinner. If you don’t have an effective doosra, the off-breaks become predictable and good batsmen will line you up for slogging. Even Nathan Lyon was struggling in the ODIs and he is a classical off-break bowler,” Harbhajan Singh remarked.

Kuldeep, Chahal can struggle too

Commenting further on the same note, he remarked that Kuldeep and Chahal have been succeeding because overseas batters do have the tendency to watch the hand of the bowler as the ball comes out at the delivery position. Harbhajan pointed out that good players of spin, say Shikhar Dhawan or Rohit Sharma, could make Kuldeep and Chahal run for their money.

“Kuldeep and Chahal have been very consistent. Just check their pitch map through the 40-odd games and the length has been very accurate. But unlike Indian batsmen, who are masters at reading the hands, it is not the case with most of the overseas batsmen. I will give you an example. Kuldeep and Chahal would have had a tough time if they had to bowl to Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma as both are very good players of spin bowling,” the veteran spinner remarked.

Jadeja in WC 2019?

One of the players who has lost his place in the side owing to the success of wrist spinners is Ravindra Jadeja. With the World Cup 2019 coming close, eyes are on his slot in the squad. Unlike Aakash Chopra who recently felt Jadeja would miss out in WC 2019, Harbhajan feels the all-rounder stands a good chance in the English conditions.

“If you remember, during the 2017 Champions Trophy, the weather in UK was hot and humid. So, if conditions are same, Jadeja could still be used as a package, if the opposition team has five to six right-handers in their line-up. Play him as No.6 with Hardik Pandya as No.7. Also he is still your best fielder,” Harbhajan Singh opined.

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