Champions Trophy: 3 way fight between Kuldeep, Axar & Washington for place in India Playing XI

The stage is set for the ICC Champions Trophy. And the India Cricket Team is determined to fill their Playing XI with the best options that they have. And this in turn has brought to a huge conundrum. For the specialist spinner’s spot, there are three eligible candidates. Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. Let us delve deeper to find who would be the best fit to make the cut.

India will be heading to Dubai with two spin options. Ravindra Jadeja is the automatic choice and thus this leads to the vacancy of only one player available. While Axar Patel and Washington Sundar bring the all-rounder abilities. Kuldeep as a specialist is a huge gain for the side.

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1 specialist or all-rounder choice

The primary objective for Team India will be to win the ICC Champions Trophy. India came close to lifting the ODI World Cup 2023, but the coveted trophy eluded hands after the Aussies reigned supreme on the final day. And with the chance of lifting silverware on the horizon, team India is ready to go all guns blazing.

The choice of selecting the second spinner will be a very difficult job, not only for the captain but also for the coach. While Kuldeep is a brilliant spinner, the duo of Washington and Axar brings the extra advantage of being handy with the bat. So, India needs to be strategic based on the opponent to select their spinners.

Kuldeep Yadav

The ace leggie has a decent outing in Dubai. He played 6 ODI matches in Dubai in 2018 during the Asia Cup. Over there he managed to scalp 10 wickets and has a decent average of 23.70. Kuldeep Yadav has been a mainstay for Men in Blue over the years. He last featured in the ODI series against Sri Lanka and then went on to play a Test match in Bengaluru against the Kiwis.

Post that he picked up an injury and was thus available for selection for the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Coming to limited overs, the stats speak volumes about the 30-year-old. He has bagged 172 wickets from 106 International games. And on his day, he is arguably India’s best spinner.

Kuldeep will obviously be higher in the pecking order compared to Washi and Axar, owing to his specialist status. While the other duo are handy with the bat, India has a good and hard-hitting top and middle order which would be enough to compensate for batting.

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Axar Patel vs Washington Sundar

Think of bowling on slow turners and pinch-hitting – Axar Patel is the Man for the job. The 30-year-old leggie is the second player who will compete for the spot on the team. He has a fair bit of experience under his cap with 64 scalps from 60 games and a healthy economy of 4.49.

If India needs a hard-hitting player who can finish the game, then Axar would be a better fit compared to Washington Sundar. Axar can play small innings and become extremely effective. On the other hand, Washi can hit huge shots but is more prone in playing a bit of a longer innings.

As for Washington Sundar, he is the lone offspinner in the entire squad. He boasts of having 23 wickets in his 22 ODI caps for the country. While he too is handy with the bat and can pick wickets at regular intervals, his selection is again based on horses for courses. Based on pitch and ground conditions, if situations are favorable, then Washington would be a very good choice in the Playing XI.