Auckland [New Zealand], October 30 (ANI): Following his side's loss to New Zealand in the fourth T20I, Indian spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule said that spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav, who did not get any chances in the series so far, are "well prepared to play" and expressed hope that they will get their opportunities in the final T20I and the upcoming five ODIs against Kiwis.
Following three wins, India's winning run in New Zealand came to an end with a 87-run loss at Eden Park on Friday, with the world champions being skittled out for 172 in a gigantic chase of 260 runs. However, despite the fact that NZ skipper Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell have given India its share of trouble in the series, India has not played two of its big match-winning spin options, Kuldeep and Varun during this series.
Speaking during the post-match presser, Bahutule said about Varun and Kuldeep's absence, "I think more than anything, they are well-prepared to play. But whatever combination the team needs, it is very important to understand that they might not get that opportunity, and they are very much aware of it. At the same time, they keep working behind closed doors. Whenever they are needed, in fact, they will be ready for it. So I feel it's just a question of giving them the opportunity. Hopefully, maybe next game and in the coming ODIs as well, they will get opportunities."
On Abhishek Sharma's bowling, with the all-rounder rarely rolling over his arm during matches despite being a very capable spinner, Bahutule said that Abhishek keeps working on his bowling and it is "always his endeavour to see how he can contribute through his bowling as well".
"But you know, it is all down to the captain's instinct on the ground at that moment; you have to go according to that, and that's when an opportunity comes. Looking at the conditions as well, an opportunity can arise. But they are very much well-prepared. In any situation, when the opportunity is given, they (he and Tilak Varma) will surely go out there and execute their skills," he added.
Speaking about the approach with spinners ahead of two World Cup tournaments, the ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe next year and the T20 World Cup in Australia-New Zealand in 2028, Bahutule said that spinners have been encouraged to be attacking.
"We encourage our bowlers to be attacking. Sometimes being defensive can also be an attacking role—you know what I mean. So there are different situations which need to be handled. Axar (Patel) is somebody who bowls in the powerplay, and whichever over number he is given, he executes it really well," he said.
"When you have Varun as well as Kuldeep in the wings, they too are ready to bowl at any stage. They play a different role in conditions like this, but there is a lot of clarity given to them in terms of what is expected from them. Moving forward, when the opportunity arises for them to contribute and play, I am sure they are very well prepared, and that will help them to get better and play more games in the coming tournaments," he added.
On playing at Eden Park, Bahutule said that the stadium is challenging in terms of dimensions and the team lost too many wickets in the powerplay and conceded 20-30 extra runs.
"Eden Park, obviously, it is a challenging ground in terms of dimensions. But I think we were very clear as to what we wanted to do. We were clear in terms of our strengths, and we wanted to execute our skills to whatever we could really work towards. But it did not happen. I think while chasing the score, we lost far too many wickets in the powerplay. But it's always challenging playing here because of the shape of the ground, and conditions obviously—when we start the game at 8 o'clock, it is cold, it is windy. And yeah, we maybe could have executed slightly better while chasing, or bowling-wise also we could have not given away that many runs; we could have restricted them by 20 to 30 runs, but it didn't happen today. Hopefully, we will regroup and recollect, and make sure that we continue our form in Hamilton," he signed off. (ANI)
"Well prepared to play, hope they'll get their opportunities": Spin bowling coach Bahutule on Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
