BENGALURU: Who would have thought that so much would change between two ICC events? So much so that in two years — since the last Champions Trophy, that is — KulCha would no longer just refer to leavened bread. Once a regular, R Ashwin is on the periphery of the Men in Blue’s white-ball scheme of things. Ravindra Jadeja too, even if his Asia Cup heroics and a decent run of late — and even a chance in this Australia series courtesy Hardik Pandya’s injury — may give him an outside chance for the World Cup. Such has been the dominance of Kuldeep Yadav-Yuzvendra Chahal combine.
You don’t need numbers to flesh out the template that has helped the Men in Blue stamp their authority in ODIs over the past few years. Any fan can break it down into a simple, three-step process: pile on the runs, strangle the opposition during the middle overs, and let the pace battery finish the mop-up job.
It is the attacking mindset that Kuldeep and Chahal embody that has helped India to execute that second step to perfection. And they have done it on such a regular basis that the labels of them being India’s “trump card” at the upcoming World Cup hardly come across as an exaggeration. That 5-1 series demolition of South Africa early last year (Kuldeep picked up 17 wickets while Chahal took 16), or even the recent 4-1 win in New Zealand (They took a combined 17 wickets). The past two-odd years are littered with ample proof to state that Kuldeep and Chahal are India’s go-to guillotine men during the middle overs.
“If you look at the matches we have played together in the last year or so, we have won a majority of them. In ODI cricket, if there are bowlers who can take wickets in the middle overs, you cannot change much,” is how the chinaman sums up the period in which he and Chahal really sing for their supper.
“In ODIs, the middle overs are really very important. If some wickets can be taken during that time, the score will be restricted. My mindset is to attack and take wickets. There are more chances of wickets when batsmen are trying to attack. Sometimes players play sensibly and don’t attack. But we try to attack batsmen who are attacking. It gives us chances to dismiss them.”
Even as one half of this deadly combine, Kuldeep has established himself as India’s best spinner in limited-over cricket. Generic opinions abound about the fact that wrist-spinners don’t really need to depend on the surface to extract purchase, but Kuldeep has literally walked that talk last year.
The 24-year-old scalped 45 wickets in ODIs last year. More importantly, most of his dismissals were on foreign soil, be it South Africa or England. And his latest exploits in New Zealand (eight wickets) will give him all the more confidence to bring out his big guns during the World Cup.
“If you have the basics right and stick to it, you will be in your rhythm,” observes Kuldeep. “The conditions does not matter wherever you play in ODI cricket. But yes, I have to agree that the preparations for the World Cup have been good. I have played in different kinds of conditions in England, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.”
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Australia may breathe easy throughout the T20I leg of their tour of India, as Kuldeep has been rested for it. But come March 2 — when the ODIs begin — harrowing memories of their September in the nation two years ago may very well resurface.