Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav confident of doing well in England

Chahal and Kuldeep are keen to play white-ball cricket in England given that ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 will be played in the same country.

Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal | AP

India’s wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have become the architects of India’s awe-inspiring show in ODI cricket of late. The Men in Blue have lost just 5 in their last 26 one-day internationals since last year's Champions Trophy and both the spinners have played an instrumental role in it.

During the South Africa tour earlier this year, Chahal and Kuldeep had literally bamboozled the Proteas batsmen. The spin twins had scalped 33 wickets between them as the Men in Blue clinched the six-match ODI series with a stunning margin of 5-1.

While Kuldeep had finished the series with 17 wickets to his name, Chahal claimed 16 wickets to script a maiden bilateral ODI series victory for India in the rainbow nation.

Ahead of India’s upcoming ODI assignment in England next month, both the spinners have expressed their desire to do well against the No.1 ODI side. In an exclusive interview with India TV, Chahal and Kuldeep have said that they are keen to play white-ball cricket in England given that ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 will be played in the same country.

"We have played teams like Sri Lanka and Australia in past one year and won matches throughout the season. It will be my first tour to England, so it's very important for me as the 2019 World Cup will also be played there. The team going to England this time is certainly the best one," Chahal quoted.

Echoing Chahal’s viewpoint, Kuldeep said: "As a youngster, you want to do well in every series. England are a very strong team. They are playing good cricket in ODIs and T20Is. It is an opportunity for youngsters like us to do well against them at their home."

Besides Chahal and Kuldeep, Team India boast a pretty formidable bowling attack for England tour which include Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav and Hardik Pandya as pacemen.

"Our death bowling is perfect as we have Bhuvi, Bumrah and now Siddharth Kaul as well. As far as spin department is concerned, I and Kuldeep are there along with Sundar. Thanks to the IPL, we have a good bench strength now; if one player is not available for a match, we have his replacement," Chahal remarked.

Talking about the role skipper Virat Kohli has played in their success, Kuldeep said: "The way Virat Kohli has managed us has been commendable. We all need a captain who keep his faith in us, understand our abilities and support our talent. He backs our strengths as always tells us to bowl according to our strengths. It becomes easy to bowl and communicate in such environment."

Chahal joined in, saying: "He (Kohli) backs everyone in the team. He talks to the players who fail to perform on a given day and tries to boost their confidence. In IPL, we get to play 14 matches and that is much more than a series. We get more chances of comeback in IPL, so he always motivates the players and never put pressure on youngsters."

India’s tour of England will kick off from July 3 where they will play three T20Is and as many ODIs before featuring in a five-match Test series from August 1.

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 19 Jun, 2018

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