Kuldeep Yadav or Yuzvendra Chahal: Who should be Team India's primary spinner at the 2023 World Cup?
Team India sprung a surprise towards the end of the ODI series against Bangladesh as they added Kuldeep Yadav to their squad for the final contest in Chattogram.
Kuldeep had an understated outing. He beat the bat on multiple occasions but produced only one wicket, that of Shakib Al Hasan. He was also taken for 53 runs in his 10 overs as the Bangladesh batters tried to be positive against him, largely because they weren't reading him convincingly from the hand.
India have been crying out for a wicket-taking wrist-spinner in white-ball cricket for a while now. Yuzvendra Chahal, who wasn't part of the squad for the Bangladesh ODI series, has been their go-to man over the last three years, but he hasn't covered himself in glory with his performances over that time frame.
The 2023 World Cup, to be held at home, will demand at least three spinners in the playing XI. While two of them are likely to be finger-spinning all-rounders, team combination dictates that a specialist leggie will be able to make the grade. Who will that leggie be?
The case for Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal has played 12 ODIs for Team India in 2022, and his returns have been capricious. He has four three-fers in this period, with best figures of 4/17, but he has also gone for more than 40 runs in 10 of these matches.
While the leg-spinner has been able to pick up wickets, he hasn't been as consistent as India would like him to be. Both his bowling average and his strike rate are close to where they were during his prime years (2017-2019), but his economy rate (5.49) is the second-highest it has been over a seven-year-long ODI career.
That can be attributed to the overall increase in teams' run-scoring in the 50-over format, but Chahal hasn't passed the eye test. He has often been either too full or too short, with the batters finding it all too easy to keep the boundaries flowing between overs 10 and 40.
Surprisingly, all three bowling metrics - average, strike rate and economy rate - indicate that Chahal is better away from home than he is in India. The difference is marginal, but the sample size (16 home vs 54 away) is another important point to keep an eye on.
Chahal's poor T20I form has also contributed to the negative perception of his bowling.
The case for Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav, on the other hand, is a wholly different case. The left-arm wrist-spinner has played eight ODIs in 2022, picking up 12 wickets at an average of 27.75. The economy rate, which stands at an impressive 4.96, makes for promising reading.
Kuldeep simply hasn't played enough international matches over the last few years to make a fair assessment of his bowling. While Chahal's ODI appearances were somewhat limited as well in 2020 and 2021, his partner spent a considerable amount of time on the sidelines and needed a prolific Indian Premier League season with the Delhi Capitals to truly re-enter the fray.
Like Chahal, Kuldeep hasn't inspired much confidence. He is definitely a much-improved bowler and has the backing of Rohit Sharma and the team management, but he has been too prone to losing the plot when batters try to take him on.
The best facet of his bowling has been the batters' inability to read his googly, something Chahal has rather unsuccessfully tried to incorporate into his game. But on the whole, as of now, the 27-year-old hasn't done enough for Team India to pick him over his more experienced compatriot.
What does the future hold for Chahal, Kuldeep and Team India?
Neither Chahal nor Kuldeep have sealed their spots in Team India's first-choice ODI squad, and the upcoming months will reveal a lot in terms of the direction the selectors decide to take.
If Washington Sundar becomes one of India's playing XI fixtures, Chahal could benefit from the fact that he turns the ball away from the left-hander. On the flip side, if Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel manage to play in unison, Kuldeep might be the preferred spinner.
As it stands, India are justifiably likely to pick Chahal ahead of Kuldeep. But others like Rahul Chahar and Ravi Bishnoi are firmly in the reckoning. If the young duo manage to outshine their seniors in the chances they're bound to get over the next six months, they could easily pip them to the 2023 World Cup squad.