Chahal aims to make most of 'window of opportunity'
Having impressed in the few opportunities that have come his way, Yuzvendra Chahal, the Haryana legspinner, is now looking forward to carving a niche for himself in India's colours. The 26-year-old has come a long way since being bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) during the 2014 Indian Premier League (IPL) auctions. A fringe part of the Mumbai Indians set-up until then, Chahal is now anointed as RCB's lead spinner, a role he relished - finishing as the highest wicket-taker for his franchise in two successive IPL seasons.
Having performed admirably under Virat Kohli's captaincy at RCB, it came as no surprise when he was selected for the short tour of Zimbabwe, as the selectors preferred to rest the senior players. Chahal featured in the playing XI in all the games and came up with some decent performances - enough to keep himself in the loop for future selections.
With Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja rested for the ongoing Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against England, the doors opened for Chahal to make his home international debut. Defending a modest 147 in Kanpur on Thursday (January 26), Chahal didn't do his reputation any harm, picking up both openers in an over and finishing with figures of 2 for 27 from his four overs.
Having acquitted himself pretty well in his first home game for India, a confident Chahal spoke about his tryst with the national side and his experience of bowling in Kanpur. "This was my first series after the tour of Zimbabwe (June 2016), and that too at home," Chahal said in Nagpur on Saturday (January 28), ahead of the second T20I.
"I was bit nervous at the start. After bowling the first over I gained confidence. Playing in India, the ground is always full and there is pressure of the home crowd," the 26-year old legspinner added.
Unlike the other grounds in India, Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium, Nagpur, is one of the bigger stadiums in the country and Chahal hoped that it could help his style of bowling. "A big ground makes a difference as you can flight the ball. When the ground is big, the batsman needs to think which ball to hit. In a small ground, batsmen can try hitting every ball but here he has to choose and try," he reasoned.
Unlike other legspinners, Chahal swears by his accuracy but wasn't willing to give out his strategy against the England batsmen for Sunday's game. "My aim is to bowl stump to stump", he said. "My plans will be based on which side of the ground has the bigger boundaries, the situation of the game and the batsmen up against me," he further added.
The bowlers failed to defend 147 at Kanpur, but Chahal wasn't too fussed about it, instead, preferred to look at the positives. Noting that England have a lot of attacking batsmen in their ranks, Chahal pin-pointed that their attacking nature could come in handy for the home bowlers.
"We have not discussed (bowling plans). The way they (England) batted in the previous game gives a plus point to the bowlers as they were trying to hit all balls. I got hit for a six with my first ball and then I got a wicket. You have got six balls while the batsman has just one. You have to plan accordingly because Twenty20 is such a format where you have to be on your toes always as you don't know what will happen next," Chahal said.
Chahal and Parvez Rasool were preferred ahead of the more experienced Amit Mishra for the Kanpur encounter, but Chahal wasn't willing to open up about the possible team combination for Nagpur. "In the last match, I and Rasool bhai did well," he said before hastening to add that the playing XI will be selected after assessing the pitch conditions.
As he had been with the Mumbai Indians, Chahal was constantly under the radar of Mishra and Jayant Yadav when it came to selection for the Haryana Ranji squad, but in the absence of the two lead spinners, Chahal took over the main spinner's duties - finishing with 33 wickets from seven games.
This season's Ranji Trophy was played at neutral venues and it also meant Haryana played their games outside the home comforts of Lahli, a haven for pacers. Chahal took the opportunity with both hands and finished as Haryana's highest wicket-taker. "I had never played so many matches in the past, but this time Mishy Bhaiya (Mishra) and Jayant (Yadav) were playing for India. So, I had a chance to grab. I think I did well in the seven league games", he said modestly.
Having played a lot with Mishra, he only had words of praise about his experienced India and Haryana colleague. "Mishy bhaiya has more turn, I don't have that much turn. My pace and speed is more. I focus on line and length," he said, when asked for a comparison between himself and India's number one legspinner.
Having lost the Kanpur T20I, the hosts are playing catch-up at the moment and need to win both the remaining games, if they are to complete a winless tour for the visitors. For that to happen though, Chahal has a crucial role to play in what is a relatively inexperienced spin line-up.
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