Wrist spinners Kuldeep and Chahal might relish Dubai pitches

India wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (left) and Kuldeep Yadav. Pic/AFP

The Asia Cup championship will be a stern test for India's two wrist spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, more so the latter after he was sent back from the England tour following a dismal performance in the Lord's Test. He was the cynosure of all eyes when he bamboozled the England batsmen in the first T20 International at Manchester where he grabbed six wickets in his four overs.

It was thought he would give the home batsmen a harrowing time in the Test matches too after doing fairly well in the ODIs. But the team management chose to play him at Lord's when the conditions were not in his favour. After the flop show in the second Test he was dropped for the third and then sent back home to the grind with India 'A'.

Kuldeep's coach in Kanpur, Kapil Pandey, said he was confident that his ward can ride roughshod over opponents and come back stronger. "A wrist spinner needs to have a large heart. There will be days when he will be taken apart. It's the resilience that's crucial; how quickly he can come back from the hammering on a bad day. Kuldeep has it in him to take the rough with the smooth. I have observed that he never loses heart or confidence, is ready to take setbacks it in his stride and concentrate on the next assignment," Pandey said.

Many experts felt that Kuldeep was not handled properly on the England tour, especially in the Test series. He was played at Lord's when conditions were not favourable for a wrist spinner. After the opening day was rained off, there was hardly any prudence in playing him. Generally, spinners hunt in tandem, as is the case with Kuldeep and Chahal with white ball and Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in Test matches, especially in home conditions. It remains to be seen if the team management has confidence in Kuldeep to deliver in this desert venue, especially against Asian teams who are quite apt at tackling spinners.

But with high temperatures in the first session and the absence of the dew during the session under lights, the wrist spinners can be vital on pitches which tend to become sluggish as the game progresses. It was indeed heartening to see the duo working hard at the ICC Academy. India's bowling unit, especially the seamers, performed well on the UK tour. With a now-fit Bhuvneshwar Kumar and ever-reliable Jasprit Bumrah set to spearhead the bowling attack, it is imperative for the wrist spinners to back the seamers and keep up the pressure in the middle overs. That's where Kuldeep and Chahal will face the real test, especially while facing Pakistan in a pressure situation in front of a full house on Wednesday.

Nine
No. of wickets claimed by Kuldeep Yadav in three ODIs against England in July

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