Why Kuldeep Yadav-Yuzvendra Chahal Don't Play Together Anymore?

In the recently concluded tour between India and England, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal had a difficult series with the ball. 

Yuzvendra Chahal played the first three of the five T20Is and took three wickets at an average of over 39 with an economy of 9.91. Kuldeep Yadav, on the other hand, played two ODIs in which he conceded 152 in 19 overs he bowled without taking any wicket. Yadav played one test as well where he only bowled 12.2 overs and took two wickets at an economy of 3.32. 

The KulCha (Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal) as a pair is India's one of the most successful spin duos in the recent past in the limited-overs format. Since the debut of Kuldeep in 2017, the two have combined to take 152 wickets in both ODIs and T20I at an average of 19.84 and struck at a rate of 20.62 with an economy of 6.34. 

There is this popular theory that the major success of KulCha was because of MS Dhoni behind the stumps. In 30 innings, when Dhoni was behind the stumps, KulCha combined to take 149 wickets at an average of 19.81 at a rate of 20.5 with an economy of 6.38. 

While this theory might be true in a few matches, with an experienced wicket-keeper behind the stumps, a bowler especially a spinner do feel a bit confident but it is more because of the overall trend with wrist spinners being impactful during that phase. 

From the Champions Trophy 2017 till the end of World Cup 2019, the top wicket-takers amongst the spin bowlers were all wrist spinners in both ODIs and T20Is. Along with Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, Adil Rashid, Rashid Khan, Ish Sodhi topped the wicket-takers chart. 

In between 2017-19 (till the World Cup final), the top five spinners in ODIs had an average strike rate of 31.28, averaged 27.14, and bowled at an economy of 5.16. After the World Cup 2019, only five spinners have bowled in more than 10 innings. They have struck at a rate of 48.72 at an increased average of 44.59 with an economy of 5.47. 

This might be due to the change in the approach of the batting sides post the world cup. The batsmen have tried to accelerate quicker and dominate the spinners more. Hence the spinners' averages and strike rates have increased. The defensive approach against spinners hasn't been fruitful for the batters. The attacking option, especially in the middle overs with just four fielders outside the ring has been taken into the account by the batsmen. 

Considering the Indian team, they too have changed their batting approach according to the latest trend. Post World Cup, the Indian team in ODIs have scored at 6.34 runs per over which wasn't the case till the tournament ended. Earlier, they used to score at a rate of 5.66 runs per over. 

India has debuted four spinners post World Cup including two all-rounders - Washington Sundar and Krunal Pandya - which add to their new aggressive batting approach. This is the reason why Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have stopped playing together since the new combination demands a batting heavy team. 

Since 2019, Kuldeep has bowled in 12 ODI innings in which he has taken 12 wickets at an average of 58.41 and a strike rate of 55.55. Yuzvendra Chahal, on the other hand, has played five games in which he has taken eight wickets at a strike rate of 34.5 and an average of 37.12. 

The trends and patterns in cricket change every few years. Post World Cup 2019, the revolution is in the batting approach which has become more aggressive and that has resulted in a change in team combinations and tactics. The spinners, especially wrist spinners, have enjoyed the last few years and now once again have to change their approach. 

Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are some of India's finest limited-overs spinners and a few bad matches don't make them a history and one cannot lay them off that easily.