Sachin Tendulkar: “The rest of the world is yet to figure out how to play them”
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Iconic India batsman Sachin Tendulkar believes that the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have bright futures ahead of them as they continue to bamboozle opposition batsmen.
Kuldeep and Chahal played a massive role in India’s first-ever bilateral ODI series win in South Africa as they took 33 wickets between them.
Kuldeep was the highest wicket-taker with 17 victims at an average of 13.88, while Chahal claimed 16 wickets at an average of 16.37. As a result of their combined efforts, India won the series 5-1.
“When it comes to batting, we speak about the number of runs scored but we are also winning matches because during those middle overs where the two wrist spinners (Kuldeep and Chahal) are bowling which is obviously heart-warming because one did not get to see wrist spinners much few months back,” Tendulkar told The Huddle, a thought conclave conducted by The Hindu, at quoted by DNA India.
“I think they have been bowling well in tandem. I think it is fantastic because that is something which the rest of the world is yet to figure out how to play them,” the legendary batsman made an important observation.”
With other teams trying to pinpoint Kuldeep and Chahal’s weaknesses, Tendulkar called on India to use the pair to their advantage and win as many matches as possible before the opposing teams finally decipher the code to countering the duo.
“They (rival teams) are trying to figure out what are the right options to score runs against them,” he said. “What is the right option to survive. What are the options to – how do we block and those kind of things . But before they figure out we should try and win as many matches.”
Tendulkar added that wrist-spinner are extremely useful assets as they can draw life from a pitch that is unhelpful to bowlers.
“I firmly believed that the wrist spinners can add lot of value as they are not dependent on the surface,” he said. “It is about what you do in the air and you have varieties bowling leg-spinners as well as googlies. Of course, during our days, bowling doosras by off spinners was common.”
The 44-year-old also reminisced about how he predicted big things for Kuldeep after watching him bowl his first three deliveries in his Test debut against Australia in March last year.
“I think those two bowlers – Chahal and Kuldeep – are going to be key factors,” he said. “In fact, when Kuldeep made his debut and bowled the first few deliveries in Dharamsala, I posted a message saying that he has got a bright future and that is something which can help us go and perform well abroad.”