IND vs WI | India should play Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav together, claims Kris Srikkanth
BCCI
Kris Srikkanth has urged the Indian think-tank to play Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav together in the ODI series against Windies, after they failed to contain the Windies in the opener ODI. Further, he expressed his worry over the home side’s bench strength with injuries to many Indian stars.
India’s lack of wicket-taking options in the middle over is a huge concern for Virat Kohli. In the first ODI against the Windies, the Indian bowlers after picking up the early wicket of Sunil Ambris in the fifth over of the innings. Kris Srikkanth expressed his concern over India’s bowling ability in the middle overs and India’s bench strength in limited-overs format.
"The massive partnership between Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope more than showed the mirror to India's white-ball attack and their inadequacies. I do understand the impending return of Bumrah and Hardik Pandya will resolve a major portion but the bench strength (in the shorter formats) is a cause for concern. In my opinion, Umesh Yadav would have been a better choice to replace Bhuvneshwar Kumar,” wrote Srikkanth on his TOI column after the opener.
He further stated that the team needs more air speed in order to pick up wickets in the middle overs. Following that he told the team management needs to pick up both Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in the team if India needs an upper hand over the Windies side in the ODI series. Shivam Dube’s performance in the first ODI was not enough, according to Srikkanth and should be dropped from the second ODI in place of Chahal.
"The bowling combination also needs to be looked at. Shivam Dube cannot be counted as an all-rounder for a while. He has to improve his bowling by a few notches for Kohli to be confident to see him as the fifth bowler. Playing Kuldeep Yadav and Chahal together is not a bad idea. At home, I am sure one of the two can be played in place of a batsman and if the think-tank still feels strongly for the specialist batsman, Dube has to sit out,” he concluded.
It is yet to be seen if India would play Kulcha together, as they prepare for the second ODI at Visakhapatnam.
