Chennai: India skipper Virat Kohli declared an all-out spin war against Australia, saying the quality of his bowlers gives him confidence for the one-day series starting on Sunday.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal add variety to the Indian attack that saw pacemen Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav return for the five-match series.
While Australia captain Steve Smith is already focusing on Kuldeep in the first game, Kohli hinted at unleashing two wrist spinners in Chennai.
Kuldeep made an instant impression against Australia, taking four wickets in his Test debut in India’s series-clinching win in Dharamsala this year.
The 22-year-old Kuldeep is likely to pair up with Chahal at the MA Chidambaram Stadium with left-arm spinner Axar Patel nursing a sprained ankle. The selection committee, however, named the seasoned Ravindra Jadeja as the replacement for Patel in the team for the first three ODIs.
Patel sprained his left ankle during a practice session and has been advised rest and the BCCI medical team is monitoring his recovery.
“It is a great advantage to have two wrist spinners in your team, especially when both are so different to each other and both can pick up wickets in the middle overs,” Kohli said on Saturday.
“It is important to keep picking wickets and have breakthroughs throughout. Those two guys have provided that to us and they are very confident coming into this series.
“They are in a zone where they don’t mind getting hit as long as they pick up 3-4 wickets, which I think is a very good space to be in and it’s something that gives me as a captain lot of confidence,” he added.
Australia called in local left-arm wrist spinner K.K. Jiyas, who played for Delhi in the Indian Premier League, to help prepare for Kuldeep’s guile during net practice in Chennai.
“They’re different [left-arm wrist spinners] so it’s good to be able to get someone who bowls a bit of that,” Smith told reporters earlier.
“He [Kuldeep] is a good young talent and can be difficult to pick at times. He’s someone who you have to watch really closely. Hopefully we can put him under pressure early in his spell and try and take him for as many as we can,” he added.
Smith, who is coming out of a tough Test series against Bangladesh that ended 1-1, is prepared for another spin challenge on the subcontinent’s pitches.
The star batsman said top-order runs would be key in what he expected would be a high-scoring affair.
“Spin has always played a pretty big part in ODIs, particularly in these conditions. I’d say it’ll play a reasonable part throughout this series too,” he said.
“We saw that the last time we came here in 2013 it was a run-fest where 350 was around par. If the wickets are the same, you need someone in the top four to make a really big score.”
Smith, without revealing too much about his team, said that despite losing opener Aaron Finch to injury, they would continue with Travis Head at number four.
While Australia also play three Twenty20 matches in India before moving on to the Ashes series against England, Smith said the team had the 2019 World Cup firmly in mind.
“We had a chat about it the other day. We have about 30 ODI games before the WC. For us it is about trying to find the right group of players to fill all slots,” he said.
“Hopefully, this group here can go a long way into filling those spots and play some really good cricket in the next five here and the one-dayers to the World Cup,” he added.
Smith, meanwhile, brushed aside Kohli’s lead in the race for One-Day International (ODI) centuries, saying India play a lot more limited overs cricket than Australia.
Kohli currently has 30 centuries in 194 ODIs to Smith’s eight in 98 50-over games. Among the best batsmen in the world right now, Kohli and Smith are always compared with New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, England’s Joe Root and South Africa’s AB De Villiers combining all formats.
“I think India play a lot more ODI cricket than we do. I’m not sure how many games Virat has played. He is a very good player,” Smith said when asked about the ratio.
“I am not worried about personal accolades. I am here to try and win a series. The Indian team has a very good top seven and all guys are capable of scoring big runs. Our bowlers have to be on the top of their game to keep them quiet this series,” the 28-year-old added.
