Ex-BCCI president highlights India’s need for wrist spinners in home ODI World Cup

According to former India captain Sourav Ganguly, wrist spinners will play an important role at home during the upcoming ODI World Cup starting on October 5.

New Delhi: Former captain Sourav Ganguly stressed that India desperately need a wrist spinner in the upcoming ODI World Cup at home, apart from the plethora of finger spin options they have.

With just three months left for the mega extravaganza, the Indians have yet to recognize their last playing XI due to the number of injuries. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer are still recovering from their respective injuries at the National Cricket Academy and it is still not clear about their comebacks.

Gangauly stressed that Yuzvendra Chahal was not used much in ICC tournaments – in the last two T20 World Cups to be exact – and described the importance of having a leg spinner against countries like Australia, England and South Africa in subcontinental conditions.

“I feel India needs to find a wrist spinner for this World Cup. Jadeja is there, Ravichandran Ashwin is there, Axar Patel is there, who I think is also an exceptional all-rounder,” the former BCCI president said while previewing the World Cup on Star Sports.

“(Ravi) Bishnoi and Kuldeep (Yadav) are there, but (Yuzvendra) Chahal somehow misses major tournaments. He performs extremely consistently in shorter formats, be it 20-over or 50-over. It is important to keep an eye on him as well,” he added.

Ganguly recalled that India had Piyush Chawla when the Men in Blue won the World Cup at home in 2011. “A wrist spinner makes a difference in these circumstances. When playing against Australia, England or South Africa, a wrist spinner makes all the difference in these circumstances. In 2011 there was Piyush Chawla, who bowled well,” he said.

Chahal played in the 2019 World Cup in England, taking 12 wickets in eight matches. Despite this, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel were favored over Chahal in the T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022.

The kick-off of the 2023 ODI World Cup kicks off with a match between England and New Zealand in Ahmedabad on October 5. India will play their opening match on October 8. A week later, India takes on arch-rival Pakistan in a blood-curdling duel.

Meanwhile, India has kept both Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav in their World Cup schedule as both spinners made their way into the Indian squad for the West Indies ODIs starting later this month.