Dubai [UAE], September 29 (ANI): India’s tenacious spin duo Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav gave a special shoutout to the team analyst Hari Prasad Mohan for the extent of effort he put behind the scenes that was fundamental in setting up the ninth Asia Cup title win for India in Dubai on Sunday.
India’s ball-tweaking troika, Axar Patel (2-26), Varun (2-30) and Kuldeep (4-30), wreaked havoc on Dubai’s slow-paced strip against Pakistan in the final and combined to scalp eight wickets to wrap up the Men in Green’s innings on 146. India eventually gunned down the target, courtesy of Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 69 and contributions from Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube to revel in a five-wicket win.
Varun set the tone by breaking the 84-run opening stand by dismissing the threatening Sahibzada Farhan on 57(38). Axar Patel capitalised in the middle while Kuldeep broke Pakistan’s backbone by tearing through their power-hitters. Kuldeep revealed that before the final, Hari highlighted the lengths at which they could cash in against the Pakistan batters.
“Before the game, he (Hari) just sent the screenshot of the lengths where you are going to bowl to the batters,” Kuldeep said after India’s five-wicket triumph and unbeaten end to the tournament. Varun acknowledged Hari’s contribution and said, “I would like to mention Hari (team analyst). He is a guy who has done a lot of work behind the scenes. And due credit to him also.”
Despite being put to bat, Pakistan asserted control, with Farhan and Fakhar Zaman going from strength to strength, putting India in an uncomfortable spot. Varun’s mystery eventually tipped the scales in India’s favour. The floodgates opened, and India made inroads, reducing Pakistan from 113/2 to 146. At the same time, bowling in tandem with Kuldeep, the sweet memories of their time together in the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL flashed past his eyes.
“I feel great. Definitely, at that time, I was going for the wickets, and Fakhar and Farhan were going well. And yes, I had done some plans, and it worked out in the way. But Kuldeep came and finished, yeah. It gave me memories of KKR when we were playing together. And he’s always a star,” Varun said.
Kuldeep’s prowess reflected in India’s unbeaten run in the tournament, finishing as the highest wicket-taker with 17 scalps to his name at 9.29, while Varun scythed seven at an average of 20.42. According to Varun, Kuldeep certainly falls in category of one of the best spinners across the globe.
“He’s one of the best spinners, yeah. Yes, if you see the trend in the last few matches, the first 10 overs, everyone is going berserk. And they don’t lose wickets. So, after that, we knew that if we bowl on the right space and right line of play, we can curtail them down,” he concluded. (ANI)
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