Ganguly & Chahal. (Photo Source : Gettyimages)
Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly highlighted that team India will need to include a leg-spinner ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup. He further pointed out that the think tank will need to keep an eye on Yuzvendra Chahal, considering his consistency in the ODI and T20I formats.
Notably, the 2023 ODI World Cup will commence on October 5 in India as defending champions England will square off against New Zealand in the curtain raiser. As teams have begun ideating plans for the marquee event, former cricketer Ganguly voiced his stance on having a leg-spinner in the setup as team India have varied options in terms of finger-spinners. He further stated that the management will need to consider the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav in the squad for the event to have an edge over other sides.
“I feel India have to find a wrist-spinner for this World Cup. Jadeja is there, Ravichandran Ashwin is there, Axar Patel is there, who according to me is also an exceptional all-rounder. (Ravi) Bishnoi and Kuldeep (Yadav) are there but (Yuzvendra) Chahal somehow misses big tournaments. He performs extremely consistently in shorter formats, whether it is 20-over or 50-over. It is important to keep an eye on him as well,” Ganguly told on Star Sports.
In the 2019 ODI World Cup, Chahal featured in eight games and added 12 wickets under his belt for the Men in Blue. However, the leggie failed to make the cut in India’s setup for the 2021 T20 World Cup and did not appear in any match in the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Wrist-spinner make the difference: Sourav Ganguly
Ganguly remarked that fielding a wrist-spinner helps while being up against heavyweight sides such as Australia, England and South Africa. He further backed his point by citing the 2011 ODI World Cup wherein the Men in Blue included Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan Singh in the 2007 T20 World Cup.
“When you will play Australia, England or South Africa, a wrist-spinner makes a difference in these conditions. In 2011, there was Piyush Chawla, who bowled well. When we went to South Africa in 2007, there also our wrist-spinners bowled well along with the fast bowlers. Harbhajan Singh was in that team. I feel it will be extremely important to keep a wrist-spinner in Indian conditions,” he added.