India vs Sri Lanka: Ahead of T20 World Cup, Team India aims to sort out spin troubles
India vs Sri Lanka: Ahead of T20 World Cup, Team India aims to sort out spin troubles
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Indian men's cricket team has a problem.
No, we are not talking about Rishabh Pant catching the COVID-19 virus in England. It's not the ideal scenario, but the gloveman has been in isolation for 10 days and is on his way to recovery.
There's another issue that has bedevilled the team for a while in white-ball cricket — the lack of wickets from the spinners. Traditionally considered the greatest artists of spin bowling, the Indian tweakers have been letting down the team for a while now.
In the two years since the 2019 ODI World Cup, spinners have accounted for only 31 percent of wickets that Indian bowlers have taken in the ODIs. The remaining 73 wickets out of 106 went to the pacers.
They have also had a rough run in T20Is, where their contributions stand at 34 percent, 49 wickets out of 143 to be precise.
KulCha struggle to maintain form
The above numbers are bad but the degree of disappointment can only be determined when we compare them with the statistics from the two years before the end of the 2019 World Cup.
In the period between 15 July 2017 to 15 July 2019, spinners took 211 wickets, which was 47 percent of 447 wickets that Indian bowlers managed in that window in ODIs. During the same time, spinners took 93 out of 205 wickets, or in other words, accounted for 45 percent of total dismissals that Indian bowlers affected in T20Is.
The major reason behind the Indian spin department ruling the roost in the 2017-19 period was the form of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. The Indian duo led the wicket-takers chart in both ODIs and T20Is in this period despite some of the top performers playing more or almost the same number of matches.
The story since 2019 has been very different. Both Kuldeep and Chahal, also known as KulCha together, are not anymore the best bowlers in India, let alone the world circuit. Kuldeep has 12 wickets from 12 ODIs since the World Cup, Chahal has eight from five matches with Ravindra Jadeja mostly taking his place in the side, and recently Krunal Pandya against England in March.
Kuldeep has only featured in three T20Is since the 2019 ICC event. On the other hand, Chahal has 16 wickets from 17 matches but they have come at an expensive economy rate of 9.13.
Hope from new breed
The prolonged struggle of KulCha is a major worry in itself but the trouble gets compounded when you consider that we are standing in an ICC tournament year.
The T20 World Cup starts on 17 October in UAE. Virat Kohli is still to win an ICC trophy as Indian captain, after failing in the mission last three times, and he knows that it has to come soon before it becomes impossible for the selectors to look for a new captain.
And to win an ICC trophy, Kohli will need his team to fire on all cylinders. That would only be possible if spinners restart weaving their magic on the international stage for India.
Also, UAE will be hosting the World Cup after staging the remainder of IPL 2021 and the sluggish nature of the pitch will be expected to help slow and spin bowlers. It's an opportunity for which India has to be prepared. The upcoming ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka is the only occasion to do so with England Tests after that followed by IPL.
The India squad for the Sri Lanka series is loaded with spinners, apart from Kuldeep and Chahal, there's Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy, Krishnappa Gowtham, and Krunal Pandya.
Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar are with the Test team in England and at least one of them is a certainty for the World Cup. Yet, their strength lies in containing runs, taking a few wickets, and scoring some too.
All eyes on Chahar and Chakravarthy
India will also be looking to add to their arsenal bowlers who could not only restrict runs but can break partnerships, take wickets at different stages of a match and turn the game on its head with their craft and trickery.
Chahar and Chakravarthy are the two prime candidates to fill those spots. Leg-spinner Chahar has three wickets from three T20Is at an economy of 9.50 but has proved his worth in IPL. He took 15 wickets in 15 games in the 2020 edition at 8.16 economy rate and was in hot form in the 2021 season, with 11 scalps in just seven matches with an economy of 7.21, before the COVID-19 interrupted it.
Chakravarthy already has a mystery element in his bowling to back his candidature, also some good form. In IPL 2020, He was the only Indian spinner to feature in the top 10 wicket-takers list, apart from Chahal, with 17 dismissals from 13 matches at an impressive economy rate of 6.84. In the 2021 edition, he already has seven wickets from seven matches. He leaked on an average 7.82 runs per over.
Chakravarthy will also hope to stay fit during the course of the series. He failed to travel to Australia last year after receiving the maiden call-up due to a shoulder injury and then missed out on the home series against England after failing the YoYo test.
With so many options to try out and so little time left, captain Shikhar Dhawan and Rahul Dravid have a tough task on their hands, with Kohli and Ravi Shastri being in England. But they will hope when they leave the island nation they have the solution to India's spin conundrum before the World Cup arrives.
