Zaheer Khan: It’s only fair to have high expectations from Kuldeep in Test series
The prevailing heatwave in England provides a perfect opportunity to play two specialist spinners, said former India pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who sees no harm in people having high expectations from the young left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the upcoming five-Test series starting August 1.
It has been a hot UK summer, prompting discussions about the Indian team combination. “Yes, if conditions are hot, it may be difficult for fast bowlers but then you always have the option to play two specialist spinners. If the conditions remain like that, they [Indian team management] might be tempted to play two spinners,” Zaheer told PTI on the sidelines of a seminar ‘Scorecard’ organised by the CII.
Young Kuldeep has been the talk of the town with his impressive show in the limited overs matches. When asked if too much pressure is being put on the young spinner, Zaheer begged to differ. “Why shouldn’t there be expectations? The expectations have grown since he has done well at the international level. When you do well, it is bound to happen and he [Kuldeep] will have to handle that.”
The architect of India’s last Test series win in England (in 2007) feels that South Africa series is an indicator that Virat Kohli’s men are on right direction as far as the longest format is concerned. “Everyone is saying that this will be the ‘Indian Summer’ in UK. I am also expecting India to dominate. But we have to keep in mind that this is a five-Test series. Five-Test series can be very challenging. You need to show a lot of consistency. But what gives me hope is the manner in which they played in South Africa.
“Yes, they lost the Test series (1-2) but the way the fought back in the final Test was impressive. The energy and approach they showed gives me a lot of hope,” said India’s best ever left-arm fast bowler.
India will be returning to the UK in less than a year to play the ICC World Cup and in Zaheer’s opinion, Jasprit Bumrah will be key to India’s chances. “I guess we will be playing another 25 ODIs before we get into the next year’s World Cup. So there are two aspects that they need to look into. They have to get their middle order combination right.”