Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja's One Day International careers might not be revived at least for the next few months as India captain Virat Kohli has revealed that the side is "blessed" with spin riches as they prepare for ICC World Cup 2019 in England.
Ahead of India's six-ODI series against South Africa starting today (February 1) in Durban, Kohli heaped praise on the current spinners in the squad, which is not good sign for Test duo of Ashwin and Jadeja.
Also read: SA-India series schedule, squads, Live stream info
Wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (leggie) and Kuldeep Yadav (left-arm chinaman) have been India's number one and two spinners in the shorter formats of the game. There is also left-arm orthodox slow bowler Axar Patel and part-time offspin of Kedar Jadhav.
On the eve of the 1st ODI at Kingsmead ground, Kohli said having Chahal and Yadav was a "major strength" for the "Men in Blue".
"We are one of the few teams or probably only team in world cricket that is blessed with two wrist spinners and Kedar Jadhav doing a conventional job pretty well. That is why I say the balance of the team is pretty good at the moment," the 29-year-old told reporters in Durban on Wednesday (January 31).
The Delhi batsman backed his wrist spinners to get wickets in any conditions even though they might leak runs in ODIs.
"Wrist spinners help you in any conditions in the world, anywhere you play. Wrist spinners can go for six an over but they will pick you three wickets as well which is eventually the difference in the game. We are very happy to have two who are very different from each other. We don't have two leggies or two chinamans. Both are different and versatile in their own ways. I think that is going to be a major strength for this team going forward," Kohli reasoned.
Kohli also said India had the core players for next year's World Cup from May 30 to July 15 in England. He felt only the middle order needs to be strengthened for the showpiece event.
India ODI squad for South Africa series: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.
