India will continue to pair one of the two wristspinners with all-rounder Jadeja © AFP

India's bowling coach Bharat Arun has stated that Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal will play together in conditions that are conducive for spin bowling, hinting that the national side will continue picking only one among the two in the forseeable future as well. Despite banking on the two wrist spinners in the lead up to the 2019 World Cup, India altered their tactics at the last minute, opting to pair one of the two with Ravindra Jadeja.

With both Kuldeep and Chahal not being bankable as batsmen, India opted for batting depth and deployed Jadeja at 7 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar at 8 in the World Cup and in their most recent ODI assignment, in the West Indies. "We were looking at an ideal combination which gives absolute balance to the team," Arun said ahead of the ODI series against West Indies. "Also there was an option, were we could use Jadeja as an all-rounder. So that really helped us and yes, there may be occasions when there are conducive conditions both can be playing together. But we will have to look at the overall balance before we decide the team.

"If you can bat in ODI and T20 cricket, it will give us a different dimension. You should be exceptional in at least two skills. If they can bat, it lends a lot more balance to the team. But as it is, Kuldeep and Chahal can be matchwinners on their day. When it comes to matchwinners, you forego the other aspects. They can win you matches just by one skill alone."

Despite being a regular in the Indian T20I setup for a while now, young allrounder Washington Sundar hasn't been able to break into the ODI side but Arun offered the Tamil Nadu player hope going ahead saying the 20-year-old isn't far off from adding to his solitary cap in the 50-over format. "If you look at Jadeja, we have a ready-made allrounder," Arun pointed out. "From the World Cup onwards, he has been exceptional for us. He has batted well, bowled well and is the best fielder in the world. He adds a lot of dimension to us.

"I am sure Washington in due course will stake a claim in ODIs as well. He has done well every time he has been given an opportunity with the ball. He is more than a capable batsman. Every time he has got a chance, he has played a cameo. He is someone who will be considered in the future for ODI cricket as well."

The 56-year-old also reserved praise for Deepak Chahar who is all set to become an integral part of the ODI setup as well considering the injury cloud hanging over Bhuvneshwar Kumar. "He has been exceptional in IPL," Arun said about Chahar's rise. "He can move the ball both ways and very skillfull bowlers, bowling slow bouncers, slower ones and yorkers and things like that. With so much skill on hand, he has everything in him to do well at the international level."

Even though the next World Cup is almost three and a half years away. Arun admitted India will approach every game in the ODI format keeping the prize in mind, experimenting with combinations and designated roles. "You do plan for the World Cup much ahead," he observed. "Every game we play, it is with the WC in mind. You want to try out different combinations and try players in different circumstances and understand what is the best combination. All the players here are resources and how best you can utilise the resource, where one will bat and where one bowl and understanding these aspects will be very important for the World Cup."