Former India spinner and national selector Sarandeep Singh said Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav will be his preferred choices as spinners for the five-game T20I series against the West Indies, starting from Thursday evening at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium. India will be playing the T20I series without Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj. With the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup to be held in West Indies and the USA next year, this series gives the visitors chance to try out various players.
“The first has to be Axar Patel as he not only bowls but bats as well and is also a good fielder. Second, the kind of form Kuldeep is in, be it in the IPL or ODI series, the way he has bowled, he should be preferred. So, with Axar Patel you need a Kuldeep Yadav,” Sarandeep was quoted as saying by JioCinema.
Kuldeep picked seven wickets in the recently concluded ODI series against the West Indies which India won 2-1 after winning Test series 1-0.
But former India opener Aakash Chopra doesn’t see him starting in the T20I series opener and prefers to see leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal paired with Axar. Chahal didn’t play a single game in the ODI series against West Indies.
“With the four spinners available, Axar Patel would be my first choice because he is an all-rounder and is a like-for-like replacement for (Ravindra) Jadeja, and also has done well in the IPL. It’s too difficult to make any of these other spinners sit on the bench. But I will go with Yuzi Chahal. He is not getting an opportunity to play at all these days.”
Apart from the trio of Axar, Kuldeep and Chahal, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi is the fourth spin-bowling option in the squad.
Ex-India player Nikhil Chopra wants to see the Kuldeep-Chahal pairing in the match, citing the ability of wrist-spinners to be wicket-taking options in the shortest format of the game.
“I would want to see Kul-Cha (Kuldeep Yadav and Chahal). When it comes to wicket-taking, a wrist spinner has an influence on good wickets and when we play T20s on these wickets, Kuldeep and Yuzi have that ability to take wickets.”