MSK Prasad reveals it was hard to back wrist spinners ahead of Jadeja-Ashwin

It has been an incredible performance by the Indian wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav who has bagged 21 out of the 28 wickets taken by the Indians in the ongoing six-match One-day International series against the Proteas.

They wrist spinners have literally made life difficult for the Proteas batters as hosts batters haven’t been able to pick them either of the pitch nor of the hand.

Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said that he wasn’t surprised to see the two spinners perform brilliantly in the series so far. He went on to add that it was really a tough decision to back the wrist spinners ahead of the experienced duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja but he has been proven right.

“I wasn’t surprised at all. I have always had the faith that both of them were wicket-takers. If you see in the last three games they have taken 21 wickets, which is incredible. I’m sure with the backing they get from the team management and the skipper, their confidence levels will keep going up with every game,” Prasad, who is in Chennai to keep track of things in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy,” MSK Prasad said.

The former Indian gloveman said that his decision to back the young blood is to form a pool of spinners from where they can choose in the major ICC tournaments.

“We have 6-7 good quality pacers, a person who has scored a triple-hundred in Test (Karun Nair) is waiting in the wings. Similarly, we thought of increasing the spinners’ base. Fundamentally, we started off with an idea to increase the variety in our spin department. And time and again they have proved us right,” he remarked.

He further stated that it is too early to speak about the spin combination going into the 2019 World Cup.

“I still maintain the same thing that I have been saying every time. We have given an opportunity to the youngsters. Whatever tournament comes up, the best possible combination will be taken into consideration. The next World Cup is 16 months away so who is going to play and who is not is too early to say,” he said.

Prasad also lauded Indian bowlers for bagging all 60 wickets during the Test series. Despite that, India ended up losing the series but Prasad said that their performance will make sure that no oppositions take them for granted in future overseas tours.

“This series could have gone either way. We have taken 60 wickets and that’s a wonderful thing. There are quite a few things that we have learnt from SA tour in terms of how to approach an away series, the preparation part of it,” he maintained.

“In fact in their own den, we have bowled better than them except for the one spell (Vernon) Philander bowled in Cape Town. It’s not the only potential, but the toughness that our players have. We will definitely do well in both England and Australia. I am sure that no opposition will take us for granted. If they give seaming tracks, we know what we can do,” he said.

Prasad backed the team management’s decision to include the likes of Rohit Sharma ahead of Ajinkya Rahane in the Test series and also dropping Buvneshwar Kumar in the 2^nd Test after he bowled brilliantly in the opening Test.

Here’s the Newsfeed: 

Daniel Vettori credits Virat Kohli for Yuzvendra Chahal’s transformation

Cricket West Indies appoints Richard Pybus as High-Performance Director