New Delhi: The clash between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Friday night offers an interesting subplot. The T20 setup will see India’s three frontline spin options – Varun Chakraborty, Akshar Patel And Kuldeep Yadav. Although they were part of the height of India’s T20 World Cup title defense in March, the trio have endured their share of struggles since then.Go beyond limits with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!For KKR’s Varun, problems began to crop up during this successful T20 World Cup campaign. Although he emerged as the joint-highest wicket-taker with Jasprit Bumrah with 14 wickets, it seemed opponents had to read his enigmatic spin better from the Super 8 stage. He took just five wickets in the last five matches of the World Cup and his tournament economy went above nine.
His poor patch continued in the early stages of the IPL as Varun went wicketless in the first two matches before being ruled out with a hand injury. In fact, Varun had to wait until his fourth match this season, against Gujarat Titans, to get into the wicket-taker’s column as he finished with 2/34 in Ahmedabad.Once he got back between the wickets, however, the 34-year-old showed signs of being back to his best. In recent matches, he has used the crease well and come up with subtle variations to take advantage. He has taken eight wickets in the last three matches, including a hat-trick in KKR’s win.KKR Patron Dwayne Bravo He said that since the injury break, Varun’s world seems to have turned around for the better. The former West Indies all-rounder said, “Varun is a world-class spinner and has just come from a busy World Cup. Sometimes a break is necessary at the right time. No one doubted his ability. The group has fully supported him”.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ Varun Chakraborty (ANI Photo)
On the other hand, Delhi Capitals’ Kuldeep Yadav is having a nightmare season. Warming the bench for most of India’s T20 World Cup campaign seems to be rusting away. He has been guilty of bowling too little and has taken just 7 wickets in 10 matches at over 10 runs per over.However, Kuldeep’s teammate David Miller backed the left-arm wrist spinner. “He’s a great character and it’s important for me to keep playing those types of guys, because he’s a match-winner. So take the good with the bad. There’s been one or two matches where he hasn’t bowled the best he could have,” Miller said.However, DC skipper Aksar fared better than his spin bowling partner. Although he has been the highest wicket-taker for the team this season, nine wickets in 10 matches is not a figure the left-arm spinner would be very proud of. Also, some of the decisions that Axar has made as captain have invited criticism and he will feel the heat.
