Chahal rubbishes comparison of Kuldeep and him to Ashwin and Jadeja

With Kuldeep and Chahal doing well in the limited-overs format for India, any chances of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja’s return to the team has become almost an afterthought. The duo highlighted the need for wrist spinners in modern day cricket in order to pick up wickets in the middle overs. Their craft came in handy once again on Sunday as they completely drained out Sri Lanka's momentum with both of them having a combined figures of 6 for 88 in 20 overs, which saw Sri Lanka getting bundled for 215 runs from 160/2.

Their excellent performances in 2017 are bound to trigger comparisons with India's finger-spinning duo, but Chahal maintained that it was too early to make judgements. 

“Ashwin and Jadeja have done so much in the last five-six years. We have played only for four-five series. It is unfair to compare me and Kuldeep with them. Our aim is to give our best when we go out and play. If you start comparing us now itself to them, it will not be right. We have played most of our games in India, one series in Sri Lanka, but the conditions were similar to India,” said Chahal.

The leg-spinner displayed great skill-set to succeed in the sub-continental conditions through his subtle variations, sharp turn, accuracy, and the ability to toss the ball up every now and then. But, his ability to excel in the death overs has been most admirable, and Chahal attributed that to his IPL experience.

“I have been bowling well in the death overs due to the IPL experience. The situation in the IPL after 13-14 overs remains the same in the ODI at this stage. I have practised and prepared a lot in the death overs and this shows (in my performance),” said Chahal.

The wrist-spinners have benefitted from playing in the spin-friendly conditions until now. A greater test of their calibre will come in the South African tour. Chahal, though, didn’t sound overawed by the prospect and said that he would look to exploit the extra bounce on those surfaces.

“The wickets in South Africa will be good and flat, but there will be some extra bounce. That is the plus point there. We have a break for a month after the T20I series and the focus will be to prepare bowling on those similar wickets,” he said.

Reiterating his dream to play in Test cricket Chahal stated that he will remain patient for his opportunity and will only focus on the next challenge for the country.

"Test cricket is everybody's dream. I played seven games in the Ranji Trophy last year. Before this, I had played just one or two games. When I played last year, I performed well and it gave me confidence that I could play at the highest level. I have a habit of taking it one series at a time. I am not thinking about South Africa at all. My next focus will be the Twenty20 series," he said