Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav break 19-year-old record of Keith Athurton

Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have been able to replace Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in the Indian side in a few years

By: Arun Rawal |
February 14, 2018 12:30 pm

Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are redefining wrist spin in the limited overs series. The duo has already got 30 wickets and there is one more ODI to go. Chahal and Yadav have taken 14 and 16 wickets respectively and managed to break Windies all-rounder Keith Athurton’s record of 12 wickets by an overseas spinner in a bilateral ODI series in South Africa.

Athurton made this record in 1998-99 season in an seven-match ODI series. He is followed by legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne, who took 11 wickets in an eight-match ODI series in 1993-94. Chahal took two wickets in the fifth ODI and Yadav took four wickets. Their collective performance helped India create history on South African soil registering their first ODI series win in a bilateral series by 4-1.

Here’s the list of most wickets by overseas spinners in an ODI series on South African soil –

Kuldeep Yadav (IND)- 16 wickets
Yuzvendra Chahal (IND) – 14 wickets
Keith Athurton (WI) – 12 wickets
Shane Warne (AUS) – 11 wickets

With a tally of 16 wickets Yadav also entered the top 10 list of most wickets in ODI bilateral series on South African soil. He has equalled Harbhajan Singh’s tally and just two wickets behind Zaheer Khan and Allan Donald. Kuldeep can surpass these two and Jacques Kallis if he manages to pull off a similar performance.

ALSO READ: South Africa announces T20 squad against India, 3 new faces; Imran Tahir, Amla rested

The only ODI they failed to get the better of South African batsmen was in the pink ODI (4th ODI), where they were hammered for fours and sixes in a rain-curtailed affair. The spin-duo also has a chance to extend their lead over others and make it tough for overseas spinners touring them in future to break the record.

ALSO READ: Shahid Afridi reacts to his viral video with Indian fan during Ice Cricket

India won the fifth ODI by 73 runs as South African batting lineup crumbled against quality spin attack chasing a mediocre target of 275. They will be looking to inflict even more pain by winning the ODI series by 5-1 with a win at SuperSport, Centurion.