The star wrist-spin pair of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, fondly called 'KulCha' together, is back. The duo will be in action in the T20I and ODI series in New Zealand starting Friday. The two formed a formidable spin pair in limited overs formats a couple of years back, but loss of form saw them lose their place in the Indian cricket team. However, both are on a comeback trail. Chahal finished as the top wicket-taker in the IPL 2022 with 27 scalps in 17 games while Kuldeep Yadav was the fifth-best bowler with 21 wickets in 14 games.
Chahal was also part of India's 2022 T20 World Cup squad, but he did not get a game. Now the duo would hope for a good showing in the upcoming series against New Zealand.
Ahead of the series, Chahal posted a photo with Kuldeep, with the caption: "Kya haal hai (what's up)"
After Chahal did not get a chance in the playing XI in the T20 World Cup, where India lost in the semi-finals to England, former spinner and ex selector Sarandeep Singh said that not playing the leg-spinner was one of the "biggest mistakes" of the team management.
"One of the team's biggest mistakes was to not play Yuzvendra Chahal in the entire tournament especially today. You saw how effective England's wrist spinners were," Sarandeep told news agency PTI.
India's squad for New Zealand T20Is: Hardik Pandya (C), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (VC and WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik
India's squad for New Zealand ODIs: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (VC and WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik