A glee spread on Yuzvendra Chahal’s face. His arms went skyward in joy. Then it all paused. He snarled in angst and turned back, shaking his head. He had foxed Brandon King in flight and drop, lured him out of the crease, and produced a thin edge, as the umpire would later judge in the third T20I in Providence. But Sanju Samson’s belated reaction cost him a wicket.
At this juncture of his career, every wicket matters, every run not conceded weighs in, every wicket-less outing conspires, as the scramble for winning a slot in the World Cup drifts into the final stretch. It’s a different format alright, the riffs vastly dissimilar to the one that unfolds in 55 days. But it does not matter — everything flows into the World Cup, every failure, every success, every movement would be viewed and judged through the lens of the mega event.
The story would be the same for the double-header in Florida. A T20 game would be played out in front of hysteric expats. The series of course is at stake, with West Indies leading 2-1 nervously. But there is a bigger game unpacking in the background.
Chatur Chahal ne aate he kari wickets☝️ ki pahal ????️
Are you happy to see #YuzvendraChahal spin the game away from the #Windies?????#SabJawaabMilenge #JioCinema #WIvIND #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/2nE36Wz7kU
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) August 3, 2023
Impressions matter, irrespective of the format. Recent memory works unfailingly. A string of solid performances could press their case, force selectors into rethink or remind them of their value. Chahal’s has been a peculiar case. He has not featured in a 50-over game for his country in eight months. This year, he featured in merely two.
Some fume that he has lost his deception; some others reckon his control and sharpness have declined; some others begrudge his ineffectiveness with the bat. But in reality, he has maintained his mean metrics in this phase.
Backed by numbers
From January 2022 19 to January 24, he has featured in 16 games, and picked up 24 wickets at 27.9, which is more or less his career average (27.13). He has not become suddenly expensive either (5.5 in this phase and 5.2 overall). In fact, in this phase he produced two of his finest exhibitions of spin bowling overseas, a four-for apiece at Lord’s and Port of Spain.
His bowling in this format has not downturned considerably either. He still deceives the batsmen with the traditional weapons of the orthodox leg-spinner—leg-break, wrong’un and flipper. He still tosses the ball up and generates zip from the surface. As much 46 per cent of his wickets are either bowled or leg before the wicket. But 18 percent of his scalps were acquired through stumping too. It is not a case of the IPL numbers getting in between reality and judgment, as he collected 21 wickets in 14 games, his second-best haul in the league.
Yuzvendra Chahal picked up 2 wickets in just 3 balls. pic.twitter.com/MU1x5tcnva
— Cricket is Love ❤ (@cricketfan__) August 3, 2023
The only quibble could be that he has been expensive in the T20 internationals for his country, though in the series against the West Indies, he has been quite sharp, but without the numbers to show for it. He triggered a dramatic collapse in the second T20I, though ended up without completing his full quota of overs.
Sidelining him in the prelude to the World Cup, thus, owes to one thing, that the selectors are put down by his batting. Now that Kuldeep Yadav has revived himself in this format, and upstaged Chahal in the hierarchy, the team cannot afford space for two spinners with little batting utility. As tempting as the prospect of Jadeja, Chahal and Yadav bowling on a semi-turner is, the blending of skills is a treat as much as threat, it elongates the tail. Imagine an Indian back-four of Yadav, Chahal, Shami and Bumrah.
The Axar factor
So, of late, they have sought the services of Axar Patel, though he does not offer much more than what Ravindra Jadeja already does. But the appeal of his batting is irresistible. In his last 11 outings, he has averaged 30 including two breezy half-centuries, besides striking at 109.89 runs per hundred balls. Not to discount his vibrant fielding. So in the eventuality of a three-spinner formula, including Patel, would not weaken the batting.
But how efficient has Patel’s bowling been in this format? In his last 13 outings, he has snared 13 wickets, but at an average of 32. The economy rate is a remarkable 4.92. The choice, thus, is between a genuine wicket-taking option who furnishes a different layer to India’s spin-bowling or a spinning all-rounder who might not pluck a wicket out of nowhere but is thrifty as well as useful with the bat. Against the West Indies, he has been confined to bit-part roles. An over here, another there. He has neither been exceptional nor been ordinary, but somewhere in between. Reliable, earnest, and energetic.
Then, there is someone who does all that Patel does on a higher plane. That is Jadeja. There is no dogma against fielding two left-spinners in a playing eleven. The 2011 World Cup squad had two specialist off-spinners (R Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh) and a leg-spinner (Piyush Chawla). Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina and Virender Sehwag too bowled off-spin.
A variable that Chahal could benefit from is the potential prevalence of dew in the second innings during the World Cup, an aspect that could affect games, especially in mild-wintry northern India.
But would not variety work better? A left-arm spinner, a leg-spinner and a left-arm wrist-spinner is a multi-dimensional group, and provides the team management with more options if they want to try something new. All they lack perhaps is an off-spinner. Ravi Ashwin entering as a left-field entry, anyone?.
A variable that Chahal could benefit from is the potential prevalence of dew in the second innings during the World Cup, an aspect that could affect games, especially in mild-wintry northern India. The dew vexes the finger-spinners, making it difficult for them to grip the ball. The wrist-spinners are not as drastically affected as the finger counterparts. It sometimes aids them in getting skid off the surface.
There lingers a remote possibility of both Patel and Chahal being included in the team as well, considering that India do not possess any part-time spin-bowling options this time around. That is if the selectors go with the seven batsmen-eight bowler combination, as it was in the 2011 edition.
But Chahal is not worried about the complex possibilities. “Right now, what’s on my mind is that I am here and there are four games to play and I have to perform,” he said recently.
“I don’t think about the things that are not in my hands. First I want to complete this series. I always think step by step. We will have a camp after this and then the team will be announced; these are things for the future. That’s not in my hands. I am here right now and I am not thinking about the World Cup or Asia Cup. I am thinking about the series against the West Indies,” he added.
But he knows that every wicket counts, every run not given adds up, every missed opportunity matters. The glee could turn into a scowl in a second.
