Sourav Ganguly Emphasises On India’s Need For Wrist-Spinners In ODI World Cup At Home

New Delhi: Former captain Sourav Ganguly emphasized that India badly need a wrist spinner in the upcoming ODI World Cup at home conditions apart from the plethora of finger-spin option they have.

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

Gangauly highlighted Yuzvendra Chahal was not used much in ICC tournaments – more precisely ingorned in the last two T20 World Cups – and described how imporatnt it is to have a leg-spinner against the likes of Australia, England and South Africa in subcontinental conditions.

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

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

Ganguly reminded 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 conditions. When you will play Australia, England or South Africa, a wrist-spinner makes a difference in these conditions. In 2011, there was Piyush Chawla, who bowled well,” he said.

Chahal played in the 2019 World Cup in England and took 12 wickets in eight games. However, despite that, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel were preferred ahead of Chahal in the T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022.

The 2023 ODI World Cup kick starts with an England vs New Zealand game in Ahmedabad on October 5. India play their opening encounter on October 8. A week later, India take on arch-rivals Pakistan in a high-octane clash.

Meanwhile, India have kept both Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav in their World Cup scheme of things as both spinners made their way into the Indian squad for the West Indies ODIs that begins later this month.