The Kul-Cha Effect: Answer to Team India’s Third World Cup Glory

For the last two years, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have become a menace for batsmen around the world. Such have been their performance that most of the opposition batsmen have failed to read their wrong ones. It is the combination of chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, dubbed as ‘Kul-Cha’ by cricket fans, that can assure India their third World Cup triumph in England later this year.

The duo has played 26 matches together for India. Out these 26 matches, India went on to win 18 of them, while one of them didn’t bear any result. The winning percentage for India when both Kuldeep and Chahal were part of the playing XI is an astounding 72 percent.

The pair has taken 101 wickets in 25 innings for India while playing together. That means, in every match they accounted for four wickets, which is an exceptional number. As far as economy is concerned, both bowlers have given away less than 5 runs per over, which again shows how impactful they have been in the recent years.

In these 26 matches, India took 196 wickets, which suggest that the Kuldeep-Chahal duo accounted for more wickets than rest of the bowling line-up which include the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah too.

Kuldeep, who is already an exceptional bowler, changes gear when he is bowling in tandem with Chahal. Kuldeep’s bowling average dips to 19.20 when he is bowling with Chahal whereas in matches where Chahal is not part of the playing XI, the average goes over 20.

Whether it is South Africa, England, Australia or New Zealand, Kuldeep and Chahal have proven their worth and made sure the opposition have a tough time dealing with them.

Starting with the tour to South Africa, Kuldeep and Chahal bowled 103.1 overs among themselves, accounting for 33 wickets out of the total of 53 wickets lost by South Africa in the series. They bowled at an average of 15.13 and maintained an economy of less than 5 runs.

Later in the year, in England, the duo picked up 11 wickets among themselves in three ODIs with Kuldeep taking his career-best figures of 6/25 in the first ODI at Trent Bridge.

If Kuldeep shone in England, how can Chahal be far behind? Kuldeep accounted for two wickets in two outings in Australia; Chahal, who played the third and the final ODI, finished with his best bowling figure of 6/42.

Currently, the side is touring New Zealand and after the first two ODIs, the duo has been responsible for 12 out of 30 wickets at a decent average of 17.13.

Last year, when India toured England, during the one-day series, the tracks did provide support to the spinners. With less than a year in between, it doesn’t seem there would be any drastic change. So, Kuldeep and Chahal would continue to be potent and will be the trump cards if India want to bring the Cup back home from England.