After their stellar form in limited-overs cricket for over a year, India's wrist-spinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav ran into some difficulties in the recent home series against Australia. The touring side handled both bowlers with relative ease as it claimed the T20I and ODI series.
Chahal went for 0 for 47 in the second T20I here and later, in the single one-dayer he played, returned figures of one for 80. Meanwhile, Kuldeep claimed 10 wickets in the ODIs, but did so averaging over 30 and conceding more than six runs an over.
TEAM PREVIEW| RCB star-studded, but often missing the balance
Chahal, though, believes there is no cause for concern ahead of the World Cup. "I don't think we need to change anything," the Royal Challengers Bangalore leg-spinner said as his side trained at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday.
"Even they (Australia) were here to play cricket. We were not playing against a gully cricket side. They played us very well. Now we can prepare ourselves more."
Chahal admitted that he had struggled on his last appearance at this venue, as Glenn Maxwell ran riot. "The pressure is different when you're playing for India, compared to the IPL," he said. "There was a bit of dew that day. Maxwell batted well. You get to learn how to bowl in dewy conditions. Kuldeep and I worked on it."
READ| IPL 2019: Selectors to keep close tabs on key India players
India opted to field only one wrist-spinner in four out of the five ODIs against Australia, with Kuldeep getting the nod. But Chahal was not worried about his place in the side. "My job is to perform and selection is for the coaches to decide. I'm not worried about the selection. I'm just excited by the thought of playing in the World Cup," he said.
Playing in the IPL would be good preparation for the big tournament, the 28-year-old stated. "The Chinnaswamy wicket was a bit of a turner last year but this year it's a good wicket," he said.
READ| IPL 2019 schedule: BCCI releases fixtures for league games
"You might see totals of 190 to 200 and above every match. It's going to be a good challenge, preparing yourself mentally and coming back the day after you've been hit for 40 runs in four overs. We get 14 matches here but for India, we have only three or five matches in a series. So you can prepare yourself properly."
Chahal will likely come up against some of his RCB teammates at the World Cup but he saw no need to conceal anything from them in the nets. “Everyone has your videos,” he said.
“If you're trying some new variation then you don't want to show it to everyone, but my variations, there's not much difference — you can find everything on YouTube. The more I bowl to batsmen, big hitters, I get an idea as to where I shouldn't bowl to them. If they are getting a look at me, I'm also getting a look at them. I'll bowl to them and learn.”
Comments
SHARE