New Delhi [India], July 9 (ANI): Former Team India batsman VVS Laxman and all-rounder Irfan Pathan have backed the spinner-duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal ahead of India's white-ball series against Sri Lanka from July 13.
"I would like to see them (Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal) play in three ODIs, because there are six spinners as you rightly mentioned. I think in ODIs, each bowler will get to bowl 10 overs. So, the more overs they bowl, the more success they have, they will get back the confidence — especially Kuldeep Yadav. Yuzvendra Chahal is a successful and experienced bowler, he is high on confidence and a very important member, keeping in mind the T20 World Cup. I think Kuldeep requires to get his confidence back," VVS Laxman said on Star Sports show Game Plan.
In the recently concluded second intra-squad match in Sri Lanka, the duo shared as many as five wickets between them. In a video shared by Sri Lanka Cricket's YouTube channel, Chahal can be seen dismissing Nitish Rana and Krishnappa Gowtham. Kuldeep, who has been struggling to cement his place in the national set-up, picked up three wickets.
Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan rallied behind Kuldeep Yadav as he said, "The only way you can get confidence is by playing matches. And if he keeps bowling more and more overs, this is where his lost confidence will come back. He has been a very successful bowler in a short span of time for Indian cricket. He has been one of the quickest to take 100 wickets and he is a wicket-taker. As far as the rest of the team is concerned, you need to give them confidence. So, I am looking forward to seeing not only Kuldeep and Chahal bowling together, but I am hoping that Hardik Pandya starts bowling. What I am hearing is that if he starts bowling, then it makes it easier to play both of them."
Irfan Pathan then lavished praise on young opener Prithvi Shaw, "He will be able to capitalize on the performance he gained in Vijay Hazare Trophy. So, what he did, he went out to domestic cricket after his poor run last year in the IPL. He scored tons of runs in domestic cricket and then he tried to replicate the same in the IPL — he was able to do it consistently as well. The way he did it — with the right technique — he did some adjustment in the technique. His bat is coming close to his body — which is fantastic — he is very, very still, that helps, and if he is scoring in domestic cricket then he can score in international cricket, as well. So, that IPL performance's confidence, will definitely boost his performance in Sri Lanka, as well."
VVS Laxman also shared his playing XI and said, "I will go with Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw (as opening batsmen). No.3 will be Suryakumar. No.4 will be Sanju Samson — in ODIs. No.5 will be Manish Pandey, No.6 will be Hardik Pandya, No.7 Will be Krunal Pandya. My two fast bowlers will be Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar. And my two spinners will be Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. This is my ODI XI."
Irfan Pathan added, "I agree with VVS Laxman's list. Only one change I would like; Hardik Pandya is bowling — so I will have him as an all-rounder. One more batsman I want, that is Nitish Rana. Apart from that everything will be the same, because I like to see Hardik Pandya bowl a few overs. Apart from that everything else is ditto. Copy paste." (ANI)
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