Team India skipper Virat Kohli, who had started off his captaincy career on a sensational note will be eager to continue his dream run as a skipper when the Men in Blue meets the Kiwis in a three-match ODI series starting at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Kohli who has led his troops to perfection at least till now feels that the wrist spinners in the team will come in very handy and he is always tempted to play them together especially after their impressive performances in the ODI series against Australia.
In a pre-match press conference ahead of the opening ODI, Kohli said that given the success rate of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav it’s very tempting to play them in the same playing XI. They are wicket taking options which can bring the team back into the match with quick wickets.
Though the leg-spinners tend to leak runs on occasions, the wicket-taking abilities of both Chahal and Kuldeep have set them apart from the rest.
In fact, it is their impressive showing in the recent series against Sri Lanka and Australia that have kept frontline spinners in the name of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja out of the team. Kuldeep made history and became only the 2nd Indian bowler to bag an ODI hat-trick during the 2nd ODI against Australia at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Chahal too bowled brilliantly and bagged the wicket of swashbuckling Glenn Maxwell on many occasions. On the other hand, Kuldeep also can bat sensibly lower down the order and proved his worth in one of the matches during the ODI series against Australia.
Meanwhile, the hosts will start the series as the clear favourites, and unless anything dramatic happens, the Men in Blue are expected to keep their winning run intact. There is hardly any weakness in the current team, and if middle-order batsmen Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav can become a bit more consistent, then India is here to stay at No.1 for a long time now.
#TeamIndia captain @imVkohli cannot resist playing his two young wrist spinners at one go #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/MSr5LrIEgZ
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 21, 2017