Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja not out of 2019 World Cup race: Bharat Arun

Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal’s magnificent performance in limited-overs in the past couple of months has resulted in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja getting sidelined from the Indian cricket team.

While an ODI comeback for off-spinner R Ashwin and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja may look remote in the build-up to the 2019 World Cup with wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav doing well, the Indian team management said the senior spinners are not out of the race as yet.

Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have been the chief destroyers in the ongoing series against South Africa as India are on the cusp of a magnificent series win. (AP)

India team’s bowling coach Bharat Arun said on Friday that Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were drafted in on an experimental basis before they cemented their spots. But their success doesn’t mean the door for the World Cup is shut on the seniors.

“At that point of time we wanted to try out all the talent we had and then wanted to decide who we wanted for the World Cup. We had a good pool of bowlers and given the volume of cricket we are playing, we needed to keep rotating the bowlers and keep them fresh for every format. These two bowlers showed a lot of promise and we thought that in these conditions wrist spinners would do a lot more than the finger spinners. They have come to the party here. It is not that Ashwin and Jadeja are out of the race, they could still be in the team,” said Arun.

Extremely positive

Arun, however, was effusive in his praise for the wrist spinners, who have shown their ability to attack and take wickets.

“They are extremely positive, not afraid to flight the ball, not afraid to impart extra spin to gain something. And they are not dependent on the wicket. They get a lot out of the air.

“These bowlers have really understood their roles, understood the conditions well and I can only say they have performed exceptionally well.

“They have troubled the best batsmen in the business back home. And we were extremely confident they would come here to South Africa and would make inroads into their batting.”

Arun said the team would like to rest some players, including Jasprit Bumrah, only when this series is out of the way. Bumrah was being prepared for this tour and was not included in the Tests in Sri Lanka.

“It makes a lot of sense. As we have said earlier, we will rotate the bowlers and keep them nice and fresh. We will take a call after this tour. Within this series, it is too early, let us see how it progresses and then we will take a decision.”