The English batting line-up has time and again succumbed to the twin Indian wrist spinners in the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Cricket news: England have faced problems dealing with India’s spin department
It is especially the Chinaman, whose variation has left the English batsmen bewildered, and they have succumbed to his guile.
After the first T20I, where Kuldeep took five wickets, he again had England in tatters in the first ODI, taking six wickets for 25 runs and dealing a major damage after England’s strong start.
Having seen the awkwardness of the opponents, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has hinted that he might use one or both the wrist spinners in the Tests which will begin after the ODI series.
“Anything is possible with the selections for Tests and there might be a few surprises. Kuldeep is making a strong case for himself and so is Chahal. And looking at the way, the English batsmen have struggled against them, we might be tempted to do it,” Kohli said in the post-match conference after first ODI.
Kuldeep has the stronger chance as he had taken 11 wickets from 3 matches so far and played a major role in securing the T20I series and the first ODI as well.
Kuldeep has also played two Tests for India, but those were in spin-friendly environment. In England he will not find ideal conditions, but has still managed to bamboozle the opponents.
“When it comes to longer game, you need players to make an impact. These two wrist spinners have been making the difference since they have come in. They did it in South Africa in the middle overs. They remain as our key weapons,” Kohli added.
However Kohli does not want to talk too much about the future and wants to currently focus on the ongoing ODI series.
“The focus now is winning the next two games. Especially the next game, looking at it from the series perspective. The weather has been lovely. It has been very welcoming. The crowd support has been brilliant. The tour is really long and there is some tough cricket ahead of us which we are looking forward to,” he said.
According to recent history, India has not made a surprise squad selection in Tests as they already have two top ranked spinners in the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. But soon Kuldeep and Chahal will definitely start playing in whites on regular basis.