ICC World Cup 2019 | Pitches will be more helpful to spinners as the tournament progresses, states Yuzvendra Chahal
BCCI
Yuzvendra Chahal has asserted that the pitches will become drier and offer more turn as and when the World Cup proceeds leading to spinners having a larger role to play. He went on to talk about the leadership qualities of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni as well as his role as a wicket-taker in the team.
Coming into the tournament, Indian pacers were the one in the spotlight with the likes of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar expected to be the star of the team. However, while their performances have been right up there, it has been the duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav that has stolen the show.
Furthermore, Chahal believes that the conditions will only get more friendly for the spinners and the domination of pace bowlers such as Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult in the tournament might take a hit.
“The last two matches we played, the wicket was totally different to the ones we started on earlier in the tournament. Now they are a little bit more dry and turning more. It’s going to be more helpful to the spinner for sure in the later half of the tournament,” Chahal told Nasser Hussain in an interview with Sky Sports.
Chahal is India’s leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 10 and has been the team’s go-to bowler in a tricky spot or in need of a wicket. Equally impressive is the fact that he has bowled at an economy rate of 5.48 in the tournament, restricting batsman in what has been a pretty low scoring World Cup when compared to the expectations at the start.
“My job is taking wickets in the middle-order. If I take two wickets or three or even one, my job is done,” Chahal added.
MS Dhoni has 500-plus international matches under his belt and has played a big part in the success of the team, be it leading from the front with the bat or being the mastermind behind the wickets.
“Dhoni is watching the wicket very closely. He’s watching what the batsmen are doing and he’s already batted on that wicket. He knows what pace the ball is coming and told me on the Manchester wicket you can vary your pace. Dhoni told me to bowl a little bit slower and quicken up for a couple of overs,” he said about Dhoni’s inputs.
