I think he has Axar and Washinton beat hands down. He has Jadeja, let alone Ashwin beat with the bat biffing.
Easily.
I forgot Washington. So, if there are 5 spinners up the ladder in ODIs, is the ODI career over for Ashwin and Jadeja?
Pretty much so. And I'm really happy with that because neither of them takes wickets regularly in middle overs like Yuzi and Kuldeep nor can they score quick enough like Axar or Krunal. Ashwin especially in ODIs is always looking to save his ass by bowling quicker middle stump lines rather than choosing the aggressive option. He is much more in his own in tests and I think its okay. What I would like to see though is Kuldeep replacing Jadeja or occasionally playing as a 3rd spinner in home conditions.
Which Pandya brother would you want to bat for your life for 30 off 15?
Need to look at team composition and current form. The World cup is in England and we have 2 good spinners already. 3 will be an overkill. If it is very much a spin friendly pitch, yes, he can replace his brother. Otherwise, not.
This begs the question...
That's a fair point but there is a temptation to "hide" him. Until the world cup even
Yuzi or Kuldeep have done enough for last year or so to not lose their place to anyone. So have Bhuvi and Bumrah I guess. They have to be the core of any Indian LO attack with Bhuvi-Bumrah bowling the first ten overs and death while the middle overs being bowled around Yuzi-Kuldeep. I don't think either Axar or Krunal can maintain pressure as well as take regular wickets in middle overs in the manner that Chahal does. This will simply release pressure from the other end when Kuldeep is bowling his tight wicket-taking spells and counteract the basic gameplan India has followed in LO for a while. They don't desperately need another big hitter at 6. Hardik and Dhoni are sort of doing the job. Even if they did, all the four frontline bowlers are indispensable.
Begs the question, again.
The example you gave had Jadeja who is of similar ilk to Krunal and Axar. Kuldeep and Chahal's superior bowling scores over the few points that Krunal's batting does. And I do rate Krunal's batting. As Lyon said, the top 4 bowlers are indispensable.
Someone has to bat 8, even if you believe the above.
Except those two spinners weren't Yuzi and Kuldeep which makes your argument irrelevant. Ashwin and Jaddu never had that kind of impact in LO cricket. Plenty of spinners like Mishra, Axar, etc were being experimented with because those two were clearly ineffective in terms of keeping things tight and picking up regular wickets before death and regularly had India concede >300 (Ashwin and Jaddu average 33 and 36 respectively compared to Yuzi and Kuldeep's 22 and 20). I don't remember India dominating a whole series against a major ODI nation away from home like they did in SA when they had Ashwin and Jadeja. It was made possibly solely by the Yuzi Kuldeep combo and they continue to do so everywhere they go. I'm not actually picking for roles but for performances both of the players and the XI. Drop Yuzi and Kuldeep for Krunal and Umesh and you'll end up constantly chasing over 320 and they don't always go so well even if you got Kohli in your lineup. Jadhav however I think is quite useful as a 6th bowler and no.6 bat and I'd much rather have him play than Raina (someone who hasn't bowled for ages for all I know).
No. It means my comparison is apples and oranges to the particular players at best. Not Irrelevant.
Well if your mind is already made up 12 months out, I hope you're right for your sake. Seems silly to me, but that's just my own opinion.
No cos I would take BK, Yadav and Bumrah and not bat deep on the players I know of. But you know BCCI players better than me I bet.
Hardik had a good game that day, no doubt. But India lost. He took one wicket and did nothing to stop the flow of runs. Which begs the question, would Yadav have stopped it? Or Would Krunal have made runs also?
