Aakash Chopra has predicted that Indian left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav could be the leading wicket-taker in the upcoming ODI World Cup.
The 2023 World Cup will be played in India from October 5 to November 19. In the last three ODI World Cups, left-arm pacers have been the leading wicket-takers – Zaheer Khan (21 wickets) in 2011 and Mitchell Starc in 2015 (22 wickets) and 2019 (27 wickets).
While speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined [3:45] that a spinner could be the top wicket-taker in the 2023 World Cup and it could be India’s Kuldeep.
“I feel leg-spinners will do well in the tournament. The world’s best leg-spinner thus has to feature in the list. It would be interesting to see how Rohit Sharma uses Kuldeep Yadav. First, he will utilize him in the middle overs. You could see him bowling after 40 overs as well. He might bowl at least 2-3 overs,” Chopra stated.
The 46-year-old further opined that Kuldeep is at his absolute best when he is being attacked by the batters.
“If you defend him, it becomes easy and you might not lose your wicket. But when you go after him, you have to read the ball from Kuldeep’s hand. And if you don’t connect properly, you could end up finding a fielder. Kuldeep Yadav could be one of the top wicket-takers. He could be the highest wicket-taker as well,” Chopra added.
Kuldeep has claimed 152 wickets in 90 ODIs at an average of 25.62 and an economy rate of 5.13.
“I rate Adam Zampa very highly” – Chopra
Apart from Kuldeep, Chopra also picked Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa as someone who can taste a lot of success during the upcoming World Cup in India.
Speaking about the Aussie cricketer, he stated that accuracy is his strength.
“I rate Adam Zampa very highly. In white ball cricket, he is very accurate and he is very straight – bowls stump to stump. He doesn’t allow you to step out and doesn’t let you cut or pull easily. If you take out these scoring options, the batters start struggling a bit. He tries to sweep,” he said.
“You can hit down the ground. Rohit and Hardik can do it, but very few other batters can. Zampa is someone who can bowl after 40 overs as well. In the BBL, he sometimes bowls the 20th over too,” Chopra added in praise of the Australian bowler.
Zampa has claimed 142 wickets in 85 ODIs at an average of 29.05 and an economy rate of 5.53.
