Kohli banking on wrist spinners to convert ‘flat wickets into wicket-taking wickets’

Team India Captain Virat Kohli recently spoke about India’s chances in England as they gear up for a long overseas tour.

England, who are ranked No.1 in the ICC ODI Rankings, are in fine form at the moment. The Three Lions are currently leading 4-0 against arch rivals Australia in the ongoing ODI Series with a game left to play.

However, despite England’s dominance in the recent past in the One Day circuit, skipper Virat Kohli is not tense and believes that the Men In Blue have an excellent chance in the limited over series much like their performance in the 2014 tour.

Also Read: Virat Kohli and Boys leave India for the England tour

The reason behind Kohli’s optimism is the X-factor in form of the two wrist spinners that the team possesses. YuzvendraChahal and Kuldeep Yadav have taken over the spin reigns over from RavichandranAshwin and RavindraJadeja. The wrist spin twins were instrumental in Team India’s dominant performance in the limited overs series in South Africa.

Kohli said in the press conference prior to the UK tour: “What’s been the difference for us is the two X-factors we have in the middle overs,” he said referring to YuzvendraChahal and Kuldeep Yadav, “We have actually been able to create flat wickets into wicket-taking wickets with the variety we have in the attack.”

Kohli also added “If the pitch is flat then you have no way out unless you have wrist spinners who do the job in the middle overs. Not every side has that cushion so they find it difficult.”

The Indian captain also proceeded to talk about the ball’s movement in the air which victimized him during India’s last visit to England. Kohli fared poorly after scoring just 134 runs in 10 outings. He feels that the swing blends well with the options available in the pace department which include Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah.