We have lot of options in the run-up to the WC, says Kohli
kolkata — The success of the two wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal has kept the competition going for slots in the Indian team and augurs well in the run-up to the World Cup in 2019, skipper Virat Kohli said on Thursday.
The team now had lot of options, and all bases were covered, Kohli said after the hosts defeated Australia by 50 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the five-game ODI series.
The captain lavished praise on Kuldeep and Chahal, who have taken ten wickets between themselves in the first two matches of the series.
“They are outstanding, they are two young guys bowling with a lot of heart, getting us those breakthroughs against a top quality side... I think it speaks volume about their character,” said Kohli.
Chinaman Kuldip got a hat trick and finished with figures of 3/54. Leg spinner Chahal returned figures of 2/34.
“We know they will do us good service, in the future games as well. That keeps the competition going among the 20-25 players that we have.
“Looking at the World Cup in a couple of years time, that really augurs well for us, how the team is shaping up. It’s a good balance of bowling and batting,” said Kohli.
England and Wales are slated to host the World Cup from May 30 to July 15, 2019. Kohli was ecstatic about the options in the allrounder slots.
“We have not only Hardik (Pandya) as an all rounder, now we have a couple of spinning allrounders as well in (Ravindra) Jadeja and Axar (Patel). So we have lot of options, plus we have all our bases covered at the moment,” he said.
Kohli also gave credit to pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for setting up India’s victory with his superb opening spell that read 6-2-9-2.
The 27-year old Kumar first got rid of Hilton Cartwright (1), beating his inside edge with the ball crashing onto his stumps and then sent David Warner (1) back into the hut with one that swung away.
Kumar was unlucky not to have got Travis Head, who was dropped on 15 by Rohit Sharma at first slip in the seventh over.
“Bhuvi’s spell became even very important, because we knew those two wrist spinners (Kuldeep and Chahal) will probably do damage in the middle overs. —