ICC World Cup 2019 | We hunt in pair, says Kuldeep Yadav on his partnership with Yuzvendra Chahal

ICC World Cup 2019 | We hunt in pair, says Kuldeep Yadav on his partnership with Yuzvendra Chahal

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BCCI

Left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav said that the pair has been crucial in past victories and will be hoping to play an important role in the upcoming World Cup. He also praised the skipper for allowing the two to express themselves and said he does not feel much pressure going into the tournament

Kuldeep shot to limelight after picking a hat-trick against Scotland in the U-19 World Cup in 2014, since then the spinner has not looked back and went on to take five-wicket hauls in all the formats of the game and has become an integral part of India’s limited over squad. Currently, he sits at the number seven spot in the ICC ODI bowler rankings, the second highest ranked Indian in the list.

Ever since becoming regular outfit in the white ball formats since the 2017 ICC Champions trophy, Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal have become one of the most dangerous duos on the international scene, demolishing the opposition’s batting on many occasions over the last two years. The two have taken a combined 110 wickets between them since the start of 2018 and are often relied upon by the skipper to provide breakthroughs in crucial moments.

"We bowl well in partnership and have won many matches for India together. Our role will be really crucial in the middle overs in ODIs. We have got breakthroughs in the middle period in this format. The fans have high expectations from us.,” Yadav said.

Sitting seventh in the ICC ODI bowler rankings, Kuldeep is the second highest ranked Indian in the list after Bumrah who has grabbed the top spot. Just one spot below him in the rankings is Yuzvendra Chahal at number eight.

The two have taken 75 scalps in the 18 ODIs in which they have played without a third spinner, with a strike rate of 26, the best for any duo of Indian bowlers since at least 2017. The individual numbers for the two, though still impressive, have been known to significantly drop whenever tried in any other combination.

“Well, because of the team combination, only one of us plays at times. But performance of the one who is playing is a different thing altogether. Yes, we are more comfortable when bowling together and understand each other really well. We bowl well in partnership as both of us are attacking bowlers and that is a huge plus,” Yadav admitted.

He went on to explain the role of the team behind their success and heaped praise upon his teammates, citing the useful contributions and motivation of the senior players in a team as a major factor behind the success since they are relatively new additions to the team and will be playing their first World Cup

“Virat bhai gives full freedom and leads from the front. It is a big thing for a youngster if he gets so much support from his skipper. He has really backed me and Chahal a lot. He always keeps telling us to get wickets. To see your captain showing so much faith in your ability is a great thing. Not just him but the entire team management and all the senior players including Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) and Rohit bhai back us a lot. Mahi bhai keeps on telling you such minute things on the field which are so useful for a bowler. This is a good sign for the team,” he explained.

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