India vs Australia 2017: Yuzvednra Chahal Reveals Team India's Ultimate Target

With experimentation being a prominent feature of Team India’s ODI lineup in recent months, there were speculations that the team management will tinker with the lineup for the upcoming fourth One-Day International against Australia on Thursday (September 28). The series is already in India’s pocket and considering that the likes of Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav have not managed to give consistent performances in the middle-order the team management could have given chance to other batsmen like KL Rahul.

However, seeing any change in the playing eleven is looking bleak at the moment as leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has made it clear that the Men in Blue are eyeing a 5-0 whitewash which effectively rules out any possibility of tinkering with the winning combination.

“I am not aware of any changes. That decision is normally taken on the day of the match. Although we have won the series, we are gunning for a 5-0 whitewash. We may be leading 3-0, we will not take it easy, because our ultimate target is a whitewash,” said Chahal on the eve of the penultimate clash of the series.

Chahal was further asked about the reason behind the difference between the performance of Indian spinners and their Australian counterparts. While Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have picked up 13 of the 25 Australian wickets that fell in the first three games, Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa could take only 3 of the 22 wickets.

“Well, our spinners have taken 13 wickets as compared to the Australian spinners. We have used the conditions much better than them. That is our plus point. Adam Zampa is the only wrist spinner in the team and he is not featuring in the team consistently,” Chahal reasoned.

Chahal also said that the batsmen’s good performance is another reason behind the Indian spinners success in recent times.

“If batsmen put up a good total on the board, then it gives the bowlers more confidence to bowl well. In the middle overs, we have bowled pretty well, be it in the Sri Lanka series or in this series. In the last series, the team was not that strong. In the Australia series, we are taking wickets at the start, in the middle and even in the death overs. In the last game, they were 234 for 2 after 38 overs. From that position, they were restricted to 293. It was a great exhibition by the medium pacers at the death. Whatever spell the spinners are getting towards the end overs, we are getting wickets,” said the leggie.

Chahal and his partner Kuldeep have performed very maturely in the ongoing series. With senior spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja not being in the team, the duo has not let the team feel their absence.

When asked about his strong chemistry with Kuldeep, Chahal said: “I know him for a very long time. We have played with each other a lot. If I bowl first, then I tell him that the wicket is providing this kind of assistance. If he bowls first, then he tells me that the wicket is offering turn and that this is the right area to bowl to a certain batsmen. The combination is good. Before the match, we discuss how the wickets will behave. We also discuss what ball to bowl to which batsmen. We always have plans.