Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif believes Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal can play together going forward. Yadav has been in good form in the recent past whereas Chahal has failed to bring his A-game to the table.
Both of these spinners savored great success together after the conclusion of the 2017 Champions Trophy and provided crucial breakthroughs in the middle order.
However, after a while, India could only play one of them in the final XI as they wanted depth in their batting and both of them also could not continue their good show.
Meanwhile, Chahal and Kuldeep played together in the second T20I against New Zealand on Sunday. Chahal scalped one wicket and conceded only four runs in the two overs he bowled whereas Kuldeep returned with figures of 1-17 in his quota of four overs.
Mohammed Kaif feels India could play three spinners in the final XI. He said on Star Sports, “Absolutely, you can do three and three. It is definitely on because they are quality bowlers. Kuldeep and Chahal bring with them a lot of experience. The guy who comes to bat at No. 7 is an all-rounder.”
Kaif believes India will have the batting depth in T20I cricket with Washington Sundar batting at number seven.
“With Washington Sundar being there, you can play around because you have got a batter at No. 7. You need batting till No. 7 only in T20 cricket because the No. 8 does not get to bat. So you have a solid batter at No. 7.”
Kaif feels both Chahal and Kuldeep can play together in the final XI as they are wicket-takers and thus they can turn the match on its head.
“Then you need wicket-takers who are match-winners, which Kuldeep Yadav and Chahal are. Then you have fast bowlers. Three and three is the way to go forward. There is nothing wrong with that because you don’t see anything lacking there.”
Furthermore, Hardik Pandya also provides a all-rounder option and he bats at number six.
“Hardik Pandya comes at No. 6. He is also an all-rounder. So you can go with six bowlers, the batting is also there till No. 7, and the six bowlers you have are proper wicket-takers. So I feel you will see this approach quite a lot going forward.”
The third and final T20I of the series between India and New Zealand will be played on Wednesday in Ahmedabad.
