The Second Spinner Of Indian ODI Team?
With the 2019 World Cup right around the corner, the Indian team looks pretty settled in. The openers are fixed, the pacers more or less done and barring the number 4 conundrum, it's the second spinner, behind Kuldeep Yadav, who would make it to the playing XI, that concerns the team management. There are two people who are eyeing for the same spot, Ravindra Jadeja and Yuzvendra Chahal, and both have impressed us in a completely different manner. While the former is athletic, miserly and provides a batting option the latter has shown guts and courage to toss the ball up near the batsman's nose and get us wickets in the middle overs. So, just let's have a look at both of the options.
#1 Ravindra Jadeja
Someone who was the lead spinner in the Dhoni reign, suddenly lost his spot in the playing XI, post the Champions Trophy, with the team management backing the wrist spinners as they tend to get us wickets in the middle overs. This reason combined with the fact that the next world cup would be again in England, where Jadeja didn't have a decent outing with the ball, led to his axe from the team.
But with some of the impressive performances in the Test arena combined with the timely back injury to Hardik Pandya during the Sri Lanka series, he was back in the fold, and he didn't let chances go to a waste, picking up a 4 wicket haul and almost taking India home in one of the chases.
No one can question his athletic abilities, his lightning arm throws, he is a wire in the field. On his day he can smash the ball also out of the park, but the question remains to be asked, Are we looking for another all-rounder who might never get to bat and might give you 7-9 overs at a decent economy, or someone who has the capabilities to pick wickets?
Because if the answer is latter, then we are looking at Jadeja for a wrong spot. He can guarantee you the fielding, but his bowling might not get you the wickets. And on a bad day, like in Champions Trophy, he can go for plenty. And like great cricketers say, wickets in the middle overs help you to put a control on the run rate at the death overs, then one would be shallow if we expect Jadeja to fill that role.
#2 Yuzvendra Chahal
So, as Jadeja failed to provide an answer to the second part of the question, the team management tried to experiment with two wrist spinners, both bowling in tandem. Generally, the feeling is that the wrist spinners lack control and you would see a long hop once or twice every over. But Chahal has shown impeccable control and has never been frightened to toss the ball near the batsman's nose, most notably Glen Maxwell, whom he foxed every time on his last visit to India.
But, recently, his place has been questioned, that he isn't picking that many wickets and combined with the fact that the team has had some batting collapses, he has been the one who has been replaced to accommodate Jadeja. It's a two way street, his partnership with Kuldeep Yadav has been excellent and together they have rolled over the best of the oppositions. But on a day when the batsmen are coming after both of them, they fail to have the option of how to restrict them, evident by his recent figures in T20 when Glen Maxwell took him for plenty. But with MSD behind the stumps, I feel that those bad days are numbered.
In the end both are quality players, but we need to decide what's that we expect out of them. We need an all rounder, go for Jadeja, but if we need someone to pick us wickets in the middle overs, Chahal is the person to go. And with the captain himself being a big fan of playing both the wrist spinners together and once Hardik Pandya is fit, I would not be surprised if we would see both the wrist spinners creating wreckage in the World Cup together.