India spinner Yuzvendra Chahal became India’s leading wicket-taker during the second T20I against New Zealand on Sunday. Chahal scalped one wicket in the match and took his total tally to 91 and surpassed Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 90 wickets. However, the performance of the veteran spinner has not been up to the mark for quite some time. Chahal has scalped only four wickets in three T20Is he played this year. Apart from this, he could only achieve three dismissals in three ODIs. As the Rohit Sharma-led side is gearing up for the upcoming ODI World Cup, former India selector Sunil Joshi stated that the 32-year-old spinner should play domestic cricket to regain his form.
“Over a period any bowler will go through that phase. Probably Chahal is in that phase. Someone like Chahal, who is not able to get game time in the middle, probably he should request the team management to go and play domestic cricket. Match time is very important for him to get back into form. That should be the ideal preparation for Chahal,” said Sunil on ESPNCricinfo.
Sunil dropped Chahal from his 15-member squad for the ODI World Cup and stated, “No. Jadeja will be in my squad. If he is not in a good rhythm, you have a backup in Axar. Then probably I would look at Washy (Washington Sundar) or Ravi Bishnoi if I have to have one more leg spinner because Bishnoi is more consistent and has a quicker arm action and he’s a better fielder than Chahal.”
The former selector lavished praise on left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav and said that he needs to be consistent with his performance in order to have a good run in the World Cup.
“Kuldeep Yadav is in a space where he is absolutely fine. He needs to be more consistent. He needs to be looking at the tactical part. He needs to know how he will approach each team and venue. The World Cup is in India but every venue has a different dimension, in terms of pitch, soil, and climate. He has to prepare himself accordingly,” said Sunil.
Kuldeep Yadav has been in blistering form this year. He scalped five wickets in two ODIs against Sri Lanka and then got six wickets in three games against New Zealand. Later, he also got to scalps in the two T20Is against the Kiwis.
