Around a month ago, a video went viral during South Africa’s tour of India where in a match in the ODI series, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli engaged in banter with spinner Kuldeep Yadav due to his relentless appealing. In a recent interaction, ahead of the T20 World Cup- to stop with the incessant appeals on every ball and trust the wicketkeeper’s judgments.
“My one simple advice to Kuldeep is to just bowl quietly and go back to his mark. You can’t appeal on every ball. This is basic. I keep saying it, but it still happens often. Even after telling him many times, he appeals at every chance. You have to use your head. Where did the ball hit? Just because it touches the pad, it doesn’t mean it’s out every time. This isn’t gully cricket,” Rohit said in JioHotstar’s ‘Captain Rohit Sharma’s Roadmap for the T20 World Cup’ show.
“I get he is enthusiastic, but think of the team first. Each team only gets two DRS reviews. If I was the keeper, I could see where the ball pitched and if it was hitting, I could tell the bowler. But from covers or slip, you don’t know the angle. You have to listen to what the keeper and bowler say. That’s why when there’s a review off Kuldeep’s bowling, I don’t look at him, I look at the keeper to decide,” he added.
The former India skipper also said that it will be a difficult decision for captain and head coach Gautam Gambhir on which spinner to pick for the Playing XI in the T20 World Cup- Kuldeep or Varun Chakaravarthy.
“The biggest challenge for Captain Suryakumar Yadav and Coach Gautam Gambhir will be how to play both, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy together. If you want that combination, you can only do it if you play with two seamers, which is a big challenge. But honestly, I would be tempted to play both, Varun and Kuldeep, because they are wicket-takers and batters struggle to read them. I would surely pick them,” he said.
Looking at conditions in India, like in this New Zealand series, there is a lot of dew. In February and March, dew will be heavy across most parts as winter ends. Even in , which doesn’t get cold, there’s still dew. I’d say 90-95% of grounds in India have dew. That’s the challenge. What do the Coach and Captain think? Are they comfortable with three spinners? Then they can play spin, but there’s no fixed rule. Then you have to drop a pacer, which may not be right. It depends on the team leaders’ thinking,” Rohit added.
