The former South African cricketer Robin Peterson believes that India will begin the upcoming World Cup as the most favourite side. Talking about this, he pointed out on two Indian wrist-spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
The 24-year-old Kuldeep Yadav is a left-arm chinaman bowler. Meanwhile, the 28-year-old Yuzvendra Chahal is a leg-spinner. Since their international cricket debut, both have dominated all over the world. Just recently, they have completed 100 ODI wickets while playing together.
The 39-year-old Robin Peterson lauded on these two Indian spinners. He called them the mystery spinners and also mentioned them as the crucial members of the national team.
The former South African left-arm spinner feels that the two spinners have enough qualities to disrupt any batting line-up.
England and Wales will host the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup from 30 May to 14 July. While Robin Peterson expects the flat wickets during the World Cup, he wants to see both the spinners in the playing XI. He thinks that these bowlers can be the deciding factor for India in the upcoming World Cup.
Robin Peterson also believes that India could beat Pakistan in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final if both had played that game.
He recently told TOI, “You want as much mystery spinners in your attack as possible. India is very blessed to have Chahal and Kuldeep in their team. Rival teams don’t seem to be read them well and are finding it difficult to score off them. And they are getting wickets as well. I personally think, the wickets in England for the World Cup are going to be flat and both of them should be in the playing XI. These two spinners can be the deciding factor for India in the World Cup. I think the mystery element is what India lacked against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy (2017). Now they have brought in these two spinners and I think India are going to be hard to beat in the World Cup in England.”
MS Dhoni is one of the smartest cricketers I have played against
Robin Peterson credited MS Dhoni for the massive success of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. He remarked the former Indian captain as one of the smartest cricketers he had played in the opposition side.
The former international cricketer also spoke about the present Indian captain. He feels that the current Indian skipper Virat Kohli is learning very well from MS Dhoni.
Robin Peterson added, “They have a unique skill-set. You have to be very patient with them. Dhoni is one of the smartest cricketers I have played against. I always admired how he used his bowlers as a captain. He is really good at matching up players in terms of the bowling. That only benefits both Chahal and Kuldeep. India’s current skipper Virat is learning and will learn from his ex-skipper on how to use these bowlers when the latter decides to leave the game.”
It is going to take a bit of time for South Africa to be back to where we were
At present, the South African national cricket team is struggling in international cricket. Talking about that, Robin Peterson pointed out AB de Villiers‘ retirement and Hashim Amla‘s struggling form. He believes that it will take time to build up another strong South African side to match their past.
Robin Peterson said, “They lost AB de Villiers just a few months ago. Amla is not in the best of form. When your top players are plateauing, you need the young crop to step in and that hasn’t been happening in South African cricket off late. It is going to take a bit of time for South Africa, especially in Test cricket, to be back to where we were.”
From 2002 to 2014, Robin Peterson played 15 Tests, 79 ODIs and 21 T20Is for South Africa.