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India dished out a spinners' show in the ICC Champions Trophy final against New Zealand, with Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav starring in the act. The spin duo kept tabs on the Kiwis in the first innings with some crucial wickets in regular intervals after New Zealand got off to a brisk start. Kuldeep and Chakaravarthy combined to get three quick wickets, accounting for Will Young (Chakavarthy), Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson (both dismissed by Kuldeep).
Chakaravarthy also returned to dismiss Glenn Phillips later in the innings. This led to some dubbing this the second ‘KulCha’ combination. Great Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh even went to the extent of comparing their partnership with his and Anil Kumble's.
Harbhajan, who has 711 international wickets for India, was optimistic about the heights this pair could reach, stating he could see them challenge his own partnership with Anil Kumble in terms of white-ball success for the national team. “They can become that partnership that will win India a lot of matches in the years to come. They can become much better than Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh,” Harbhajan said while doing commentary for Star Sports Hindi.
Kumble and Harbhajan are two of the most successful Indian spinners ever. Kumble, with close to 1000 wickets, is still the leading wicket-taker for India in both Tests and ODIs, while Harbhajan sits in the top five of both lists. Harbhajan explains reasons behind Kuldeep and Varun's success Bhajji, as he is popularly known in the circuit, spoke about why this partnership has been so effective for India during this Champions Trophy campaign.
“They can certainly reach that standard. There’s no question, because both have age on their side. They can play together for many years, and only improve from here.
These are early days for them.” While Chakaravarthy will celebrate his 34th birthday later this year, his late start as a professional cricketer means he still has legs in him to be a central figure for India, while Kuldeep Yadav only turned 30 in December. Spin is also a more forgiving aspect of the game than pace bowling.
Moreover, Harbhajan explained that since both these bowlers are attacking in nature, working in tandem makes them a doubly powerful proposition in friendly conditions. “Both of them are attacking bowlers, and attacking bowlers always become good partnerships,” explained Harbhajan. “Kuldeep or Varun attack the stumps, and have that mystery where batters can’t read the ball, if it’s coming in or going away.
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