Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja not the same bowlers without MS Dhoni: Kiran More

The bowling unit of the Indian team was a big disappointment in the three-match One-day series against Australia. The spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja who played the first two matches looked out of touch and failed to find the correct length and rhythm. Kuldeep Yadav had replaced Chahal in the third game but managed to pick only 1 wicket. As a result, India lost the ODI series by 1-2.

The veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Kiran More opined on the poor performance by the Indian spinners saying that one of the main reasons behind their success in the past was the constant guidance from the former Indian captain MS Dhoni from behind the stumps.

More believes that Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav are no more the same bowlers as they now don’t receive advice on what length or line they should bowl to the batsman. MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on August 15, 2020 and KL Rahul is now donning the gloves for India.

Dhoni is not there behind the stumps to help the spinners, says Kiran More

‘‘During Dhoni’s time, he was constantly giving advice to bowlers on what length or line to bowl – albeit mostly in Hindi. Now that Dhoni is not there behind the wickets, India’s spinners are struggling – you will see Kuldeep (Yadav) or (Ravindra) Jadeja are no longer the same bowlers,” More said as quoted by Times Now while talking to Indian Women’s cricket team coach WV Raman.

“He has done it for 10-12 years with aplomb as Virat Kohli could afford to stand in the deep, but now he has to either stand at short extra cover or mid-off to talk to the bowlers,’’ the former India wicket-keeper added.

In the ongoing Australia tour, Yuzvendra Chahal was seen struggling to find the length. Though the bowler managed to scalp some important wickets, he proved to be expensive for the team. In ODIs, Chahal gave a massive 160 runs in two games and picked just 1 wicket while in three T20Is, he leaked 127 runs and picked 4 wickets. As far as Jadeja is concerned, he went for 180 runs in three ODIs and returned with just one wicket.