The spin attack is not being ignored; they are just waiting for the chance.
During the India vs. New Zealand T20 series, the Indian team was relying on an extremely batting-reliant playing XI. They did try to play some specialist bowlers, but for most of the time, the entire match was being handled by pacers alone. Axar Patel and Naman Dhir were the sole spinners in the team, and their role is to provide backup for batting and give the bowling attack more options.
The entire selection and team management raised important questions about India's strategy with spinners. Both Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy are available to play for the team. In that scenario, why isn't the Indian team bringing forward their ace spinners? After the beating that Indian bowlers received in the fourth match, the mystery around team selection remains unsolved because, without specialist bowlers, India will keep conceding runs nonstop.
Kuldeep and Varun Are Ready to Go If Given an Opportunity
Throughout the series, both Axar and Dhir have not impressed with their bowling so far. Most of the time, it's Arshdeep and Mayank who do the heavy lifting. On the other hand, Mitchell Santner has been very successful for New Zealand. In four matches so far, the spinner has managed to claim 9 wickets.
So, if the Kiwi spinners can claim wickets, theoretically, there isn't anything stopping the Indian spinners from doing the same. Now that the team management knows that Dhir and Axar can't be trusted with their bowling for now, maybe the Indian bowling lineup would benefit with some depth.
To answer that question, Indian spin coach Sairaj Bahutule stepped up.
"I think more than anything, they (Kuldeep and Varun) are well prepared to play. But the combination team, whatever they need, it's very important to understand that they might not get that opportunity."
"They are very much aware of it. At the same time, they keep working behind the doors. Whenever they are needed, in fact, they will be ready for it. I think it's a question of giving them the opportunity. Hopefully, in the next game they will get the opportunity."
In the end, it's all up to the team management to decide the bowling lineup for the 5th T20I internationals. They readily dropped Bhuvneshwar Kumar after the RCB sensation failed to replicate his IPL success. But they did try to test him out for three matches at least. In the same manner, for the final match, the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy can try to prove their mettle against the Kiwis.
It seems like they were ready to experiment when they added Varun Chakaravarthy to the squad for the final playing XI. His bowling economy was rather high, but Varun ended up taking Daryl Mitchell before he could get going. That just goes on to prove how easy it could’ve been for India if the team management had placed more trust in their specialist bowlers earlier in the series.
At the end of the day, it’s not just the batsmen who win the matches. A good bowling has to be there to not leak too many runs in the first place.