Since India switched to wrist spinners in the white-ball formats in the second half of 2017, Yuzvendra Chahal was a regular in the playing XI in both ODIs and T20Is. However, after the 2019 World Cup, both Chahal and fellow wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav were no longer able to make it to the first XI. The Covid-19 pandemic meant that India's squad was split, with Chahal more credible in the limited-overs game in Sri Lanka. It was in Sri Lanka itself that Chahal established himself as a regular in the playing XI and also made a comeback there.
Chahal was full of chuckles in the first two ODIs, rested in the third as India sealed the series, and moved up a notch in the opening T20I on Sunday. In ODIs, the ball was bowled to him after a good start by Sri Lanka, and always offered India more control. He did the same thing in the first T20I, only better. Immediately after the powerplay with Sri Lanka, 46 for 1, Chahal bamboozled Dhananjaya de Silva with the legspinner's dream delivery. A loopy delivery that was so perfect it could represent an equation, teasing the drift, hitting the perfect length on leg, and then ripping the batter to knock out the stumps.
It will be Chahal's only wicket in the game, but his figures read 4-0-19-1. The bare numbers are impressive enough, but in terms of smart economy - which takes into account the stage of the match a bowler has bowled and the batsmen bowled - Chahal's was an astonishing 2.69, easily the best of any bowler in the game. For the one who gave more than one over.
Chahal could have brought Sri Lanka down not only with skill, but also with tact. He was bowling to the right-handers with a short leg-side boundary, and hence did not bowl a single googly. Not only that, he maintained impeccable control over his line as well. According to ESPN Cricinfo's ball-by-ball data, Chahal bowled 13 deliveries to right-handers, three on the stumps and 10 outside the off-stump. Not a single ball down leg. Seven of the 11 balls bowled to the left-handers were on the stumps, leaving them with no room to target the off-side, which was a short boundary.
Chahal said after the match, "The leg side I was bowling from, the boundary was short and they were looking to hit that side." "So I didn't bowl googlies to the right-handers. I didn't want to give them confidence, I thought if I can bowl a lot of dot balls, then the pressure will build. So even if I don't get one wicket, the other My partner from the end can bowl more freely. If I tried to go for the wicket, or try to do something extra, and he hit a six or a four, the pressure would have automatically come on us, because the total Was 'not that big. So I bowled more googlies to the left-handers. I kept mixing it up'.
Chahal conceded seven runs in his first two overs, and before his arrival had an asking rate of 7.66, which rose to 10.00, with Sri Lanka also losing two wickets within three overs. Just before his final over, Charit Aslanka dismissed debutant Varun Chakravarthy for 14, giving Sri Lanka a set-up for the final overs. Chahal comes for the 15th over. He conceded only three runs, varying the pace, adjusting the length when the batsman moved and keeping the ball out of his hitting reach. According to ESPNcricinfo's smart stats, Sri Lanka's chance of victory before Chahal's last over was 40.47%. After bowling it was reduced to 22.92. He said his job was to "control the middle overs", which he provided to India.
The fizz back in his bowling was the result of spending time with the coaches during the pandemic-enforced lockdown and with Haryana teammate Jayant Yadav, which Chahal gave a bounce of ideas.
"When I was not playing, I was working with my bowling coach, where should I bowl, why I was not able to perform in some matches. During the lockdown, I bowled single-wicket, with my friends. Practiced together," Chahal said.
"I didn't want to change too much. I thought which lines should I focus on, whether to go wide or go stump to stump. I am sitting with (India) Arun sir, here is Paras (Mhambre) sir And Rahul (Dravid) sir, so I sat with him, watched the video what am I missing? I am doing well, but in some matches it was not happening. Could actually go to the cricket field a lot because of the covid-19 restrictions. But I got three-four sessions in my hometown, I went and practiced. Jayant Yadav was there, I have been playing with him since childhood, so we Practiced together. I even talked to him, and things started from there. The main thing was that the more confident I could be while bowling, the better I would be able to bowl."
It was important for Chahal to do well in this series, considering the number of options India has to choose from. In this team alone, among the pure spinners, Rahul Chahar is another promising legspinner while Kuldeep and Chakraborty are also around.
"Certainly when your bench strength is so good that you have a pool of 30 players in total, it's a boost and you get quality there," Chahal said. "All the spinners are doing well. You know there are already two guys ready for your spot, who have already performed in the IPL. When I play my focus is whenever I play So I should perform. If you perform (well), you get to play. You can be in the team with just performance. When I bowl, I keep my mind clear, I have to Don't think 'this guy did this, that guy did it'. My mind is on the fact that I have the ball, and what do I need to do now."
After the current T20 series, Chahal may have to face tough challenges. If he can continue to use the skills and skills he has regained in Sri Lanka, then there are more happy days ahead for him and his team.