Chennai : MS Dhoni might have felt a little wistful as he watched Hardik Pandya smash monstrous hits and then pick up two crucial wickets in the series opener on Sunday. Right from the early days of his captaincy, Dhoni had lamented the lack of a quality seam all-rounder, one who could win games with both bat and ball. And finally when India found that elusive all-rounder in Pandya, the former India skipper is not too far away from bringing down the curtain on his storied career.
Pandya’s impact in the opening match was obvious — his 66-ball 83 when the team was down in the dumps, and his dismissal of Steve Smith and Travis Head in a space of a few balls broke the back of the Aussies. However, the performance of the wrist spinners — Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal – didn’t catch as much attention as it deserved. The duo took five wickets in nine overs, giving away just 63 runs to help India to an easy win.
Brave move
For starters, it’s rare to see a team fielding two wrist spinners in a game. It’s a pretty huge gamble as they can go for a lot of runs while looking to pick wickets. The Chennai game showcased both the advantages and the disadvantages this species of spinner brings to the table. While Pandya thumped Adam Zampa for three sixes and a four, Glenn Maxwell returned the favour by smashing Yadav, in particular, and Chahal for a few sixes. The good part was that the spinners from both sides ended up dismissing their tormentors. So, it takes a brave and attacking skipper to make this bold move, and India skipper Virat Kohli is as attacking as they come. He doesn’t mind his spinners leaking runs as long as they pick up wickets. “It is a great advantage to have two wrist spinners in your team. They don’t mind getting hit as long as they pick up three-four wickets… It’s something that gives me a lot of confidence,” he said.
For the spinners, too, a captain with an attacking mindset works like magic. “Leg-spinners are attacking bowlers, and when they have an attacking captain backing them, they get the freedom to attack even more,” Chahal said after his three-wicket haul on Sunday.