The Indian wrist-spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal destroyed New Zealand in Napier on Wednesday as India won the first ODI by 8 wickets. The Indian pacer Mohammed Shami was named man-of-the-match for his three-wicket haul but India’s spin twins had a field day.
In Australia, Kuldeep and Chahal did not play any of the three ODIs together. While Kuldeep, who is a left-arm chinaman bowler, played the first two ODIs, Chahal was included in the squad for the series decider in Melbourne where he picked a six-wicket haul to script a famous win for India.
However, in Napier, Kuldeep and Chahal were named in the playing XI and the two rocked the Kiwis. Chahal removed the dangerous Ross Taylor early on in his spell before dismissing Tom Latham. The southpaw then ran through the New Zealand lower order and finished with figures of 4 for 39 off 10 overs.
WATCH – MS Dhoni Perfectly Guides Kuldeep To Dismiss Boult
The two wrist spinners played together for the first time this year and made a mark immediately, much as they had in the six-ODI series in South Africa a year ago. Kuldeep, speaking on Chahal TV for bcci.tv, told Yuzvendra Chahal what was really special about bowling with him.
Kuldeep explained, “When you play, it’s great because we understand each other well. when you bowl from the other end. it’s not that we always bowl in tandem. Sometimes, you start and I come on later and vice versa but we keep discussing our tactics. It’s important because we use our variations well together and that’s why batsmen get confused and we get so many wickets. We got many wickets in South Africa, India and now we have started well in New Zealand.”
MUST WATCH: @imkuldeep18 makes his debut on @yuzi_chahal TV.
📺 On our latest episode of Chahal TV, we bring you "KULCHA" served hot straight from Kiwi Land 😎👌 – by @RajalArora #TeamIndia #NZvIND
Full Video here ▶️▶️▶️ https://t.co/cXvXGDen0A pic.twitter.com/l00E772zPj
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 23, 2019
Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal were sensational in South Africa in 2018 with 33 wickets between them.
Virat Kohli was impressed with the wist-spin duo after a clinical win on Wednesday. He said, “The lines and lengths bowled by the spinners were brilliant because the pitch only slowed down in the second half and they were really good.”
