Virat Kohli fascinated by Kuldeep Yadav's craft with the ball

Skipper Virat Kohli is highly impressed by leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav who got the chance to perform donning the Indian colours for the first time on Sunday. Sunday saw the Indians go head to head with hosts West Indies in the 2^nd One Day International of the 5 Match series. Kuldeep Yadav rose to the occasion with the ball and made the moment special by picking up a 3 wicket haul in his very first opportunity.

Kuldeep was also present in the Indian line up in the first ODI, but much to the disappointment of the bowler, the match had to be abandoned due to rain. Kuldeep’s heroics with the ball at the Queens Park Oval comprised of the wickets of West Indies opener Shai Hope (81), middle order batsman Evin Lewis (21) and skipper Jason Holder (29). The young Chinaman completely foxed Holder with the wrong one allowing MS Dhoni to finish the move with a stumping.

Virat Kohli flattered the youngster with his words as the captain highlighted that the bowler is not easy to score runs from. Kohli was also dazzled by the variations Kuldeep brings to his pace.

“When batsmen try to attack, he can slow his pace down, just beat the batsmen halfway into the pitch. So he (Kuldeep Yadav) is quite amazing with what he does with the ball. I’ve faced him in the IPL as well, he’s not easy to get away — especially when the wicket is dry like it was today,” said Kohli.

“He becomes even more lethal. Credit to him for putting in a performance like that in his first bowling performance in ODIs,” added the captain.

Virat went on to point out that the cross-seam deliveries are a major strength that Kuldeep possesses and it is sure to give a tough time to the batsmen.

“It becomes difficult when he bowls cross-seam deliveries turning both ways. Usually bowlers bowl seam- up deliveries turning in and cross seam bowling the googly. But he can do both bowling cross seam, so that it becomes difficult to pick from the wrist,” Kohli said.

“A wristspinner is always a bonus, something we have identified now in this series, so all sorts of options are open. As fars as the 2019 World Cup, we’ve got 15 players here, then we’ve got a pool of 10 or 12 back home who will probably be tested over the next two years to see how they react in pressure situations, and who’s able to make more impact through the middle overs for us, especially with the ball. That’s something we need to look at as a side, to improve upon going ahead, then figure out who the best guys are,” he added.

Virat Kohli gave a hint that power hitting left-hander Rishabh Pant can be offered his debut cap in the third ODI. “We’ll sit down and decide as a team about changes that can be made. We’ll go to Antigua and regroup, and that’s a possibility as well, give afew guys an opportunity,” Virat Kohli said.

On Ajinkya Rahane:

Ajinkya Rahane will always be contention alongside Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan for the opening spot, according to Kohli. The captain believes that the short right-hander has the strength to solidify the top order.

“Jinks (Rahane) has great potential at the top of the order, but when Rohit and Shikhar as an opening partnership play well in oneday cricket then that becomes a powerful package for us,” he said.

“Jinks is always in there for us as the third opener, and having got the opportunity in this series he has batted really well,” Kohli added.