The former Indian opening batter Aakash Chopra has expressed his disappointment with the struggle of the national team’s chinaman bowler, Kuldeep Yadav, who didn’t perform as he was expected to do during the first two One Day Internationals of the ongoing three-match series in Sri Lanka.
In the opening game, Kuldeep Yadav picked up the lone wicket of opponent captain Charith Asalanka to end with figures of 1/33 in ten overs at an economy rate of 3.30. However, on the same track, the opposition spinners received so many rewards.
During the second game, he made better adjustments at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo but still wasn’t able to make a huge impact in the context of the encounter. He dismissed Janith Liyanage and the ‘player of the match’ from the first game, Dunith Wellalage, to return with figures of 2/33 in 10 overs, including a maiden.
Aakash Chopra shows concern about Kuldeep Yadav’s form
The former player of the Indian team, Aakash Chopra, felt that Kuldeep Yadav should have performed better than what he had done throughout the series, as the Blue Brigade suffered a 32-run defeat in the second game of the series after the tied result in the first game.
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The veteran felt that even though the Uttar Pradesh-born had picked up three wickets so far in the series, it was nothing in comparison with what Jaffrey Vandersay had done in the second game, to end with figures of 6/33- the best spell by a wrist spinner against India in the 50-over format.
“We are saying this is a slow track and he isn’t getting much help. He took wickets -got Janith Liyanage caught and bowled but it’s also true that on the same pitch, Jeffrey Vandersay took six wickets.” The renowned commentator expressed this in a video shared on his YouTube channel. “He’s also a wrist spinner, so you expect Kuldeep to be the pick of the bowlers but that hasn’t happened yet.”
Even though the Kanpur-born threatened to take more wickets in the middle overs on the turning track, the Sri Lankan batter mostly looked to play him defensively, either on the backfoot or by seeping. Vandersay, on the other hand, had the edge of defending a total while the ball was spinning under the lights.
The former Delhi batter, Aakash Chopra, also felt that Shubman Gill had wasted his starts in both the games. In the second ODI especially, he got out thanks to a brilliant catch from Kamindu Mendis after making 35 runs in 44 balls.
The veteran commentator remarked that Gill’s wish to play the long knock and then get dismissed isn’t allowing the team to settle on that track.
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“Shubman Gill hasn’t looked dominating yet,” he said (4:58). “He’s thinking runs are available here, and he can play a huge inning — score 70, 80, or maybe even 100 runs. But he’s not able to reach there and is getting out.” Chopra told in the video.
India has yet to lose an ODI series against Sri Lanka since 1997, and if they want to continue the same feat, then the Rohit Sharma-led side will need to be clinical in all the departments of their game when they face the home side in the third and final game of the series, on August 07, at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.