Warne like drift makes Kuldeep more difficult to face compared to Chahal: Hayden

The Indian team is currently playing a five-match ODI series against Australia. The limited overs bilateral series will also be India's last assignment before the forthcoming World Cup. Though many believed that India will do experimentation in this series and try a few bench faces, Indian skipper and the team management went with another thought - playing 'the strongest team' in their view. However, a regular face who didn't feature in the first three games was probably the only likable miss in the eleven and that was - Yuzvendra Chahal.

On this, Australian batting legend, Matthew Hayden said, "Shane Warne like drift" makes Kuldeep Yadav a more difficult bowler to face compared to Yuzvendra Chahal."Kuldeep and Chahal, the two Indian wrist spinners, have troubled the world's best batsmen in the shorter formats. So what makes them special? 

"Leg spinners provide option and variety. In particular, if you look at Kuldeep, his strength is not how far he turns the ball but his strength is how the ball just like Shane Warne's deliveries arrives at the batsman. It has a distinct curve in the air," Hayden told PTI during an interview. 

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Chahal can, however, be negotiated, feels Hayden, who was hugely successful against Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble at their peak. "Chahal is a different bowler. He is very stump-to-stump. He bowls much flatter and straighter. He doesn't get the drift. If I was a player, I would prefer facing Chahal because he doesn't get the drift," said Hayden, who has 8000-plus Test and 6000 plus ODI runs for Australia. 

The finger spinners are not much in demand in the 50-over format and Hayden blames it on the restrictive approach which has been their undoing. "What has happened is that off-spinners have learned the art to contain batsmen, which had kept them in play for a certain period of time. But now, the players have got used to the flatter trajectory of the off-spinners. Off-spinners have lost the art of being able to get the pace to drop (vary pace)," said Hayden. 

He then cited Nathan Lyon's approach in the second ODI in Nagpur, comparing the two spells from the off-spinner."During his second spell, the speed was like 80-82 kmph compared to 90-92 kmph in the first spell. So that's a clear drop of 10kmph. All of a sudden, he looked unplayable. There is no doubt in his mind that the bowlers have to show guts to make a move like that in limited-overs cricket."

"They have this courage issue where they don't want to give away runs. In Tests, they become wicket-takers compared to being run-savers. That's the difference," he concluded.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Matthew Hayden pointed out the reasons why Kuldeep was chosen ahead of Chahal. 
• Ashton Turner's heroics helped Australia to level the five-match series 2-2. 
• India will play against Australia in the final ODI on March 13 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.