India are blessed to have Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, says Robin Peterson

The Indian team is now at the final stage of their preparations for the upcoming World Cup in the series against the Aussies. The team management is trying to find the best combination possible for the global event from this five-match series. However, the one department where the Indians look settled is spin bowling. Both Chahal and Kuldeep have been very effective and they have made life difficult for many batsmen around the world who are failing to read them and score runs against the duo.

Former South African slow left-armer Robin Peterson, who is in India as a spin consultant of South Africa Under 19 team, is of the opinion that the duo will be very crucial for the Men in Blue in the upcoming tournament.

"You want as much mystery spinners in your attack as possible. India are 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," Peterson told TOI.

"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.”

Speaking about the Proteas and their recent performance against Sri Lanka where they lost the Test series 2-0, 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."

"I am good mate of his (Duanne Oliver). But I haven't talked to him after he made his decision. Sometimes people make their decision not based on their careers, but for family reasons. If he has decided to do that, you can't blame him. I only hope Kolpak doesn't hurt us too much in future."

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