Chahal to play ‘mentor’ in SL
Kuldeep Yadav, Chahal’s dual role was to attack and take wickets during the middle overs. In the absence of Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Pandya and Kuldeep, Chahal will mentor the young guns.
Chahal has been the best bowler in T20s in the past one year. Since February 2017, he has taken 22 wickets, including a haul of 6/25 against England at the M Chinnaswamy stadium at an average of 16.72 and economy rate of 8.86. However, there is concern.
Whenever Chahal has conceded an economy rate of 9 or over, India has endured a mixed bag. In theTwenty20 game in Sri Lanka in September 2017, Chahal was smashed for 43 runs in his four overs but he took three wickets. In the high-scoring clash against the Best 6-25 3-43 India lost 1 2 1 1 same opponents at the Holkar stadium in December 2017, Chahal gave away 52 runs in four overs but took four wickets.
Although India won both games, Sri Lanka attacked him and if they adopt this strategy in the tournament, India’s bowling could come under pressure.
In two other instances when Chahal went for over nine runs an over, India lost the game. In Rajkot against New Zealand, Chahal conceded 36 in four overs as Kiwis won by 40 runs. In Centurion, Chahal was hammered all over against South Africa. The figures of 4-0-64-0 were the worst for an Indian bowler in this format.
: Sri Lanka’s recent struggles against India have been painful for the fans. With series losses of 0-5, 0-5, 1-2, memories of the 1996 World Cup winning side who beat India on a regular basis are fading away.
There were several key players in Sri Lanka’s glory run at that time. Sanath Jayasuriya’s aggression, Arjuna Ranatunga’s pro-active captaincy and Aravinda de Silva’s brilliance. The right-hander, acknowledged as one of the finest Sri Lankan batsman ever, hurt India on several occasions. His 66 off 47 balls in the 1996 World Cup semi-final at the Eden Gardens stands out and his scores of 52*,104 helped Sri Lanka to their first 3-0 whitewash over India in ODIs.
De Silva said the current Indian team, under Virat Kohli, is a complete unit as compared to the sides he faced.
“The key difference in this side is bowlers. India’s batting was always powerful and high on experience but they have developed bowlers who can take wickets in all conditions. This was one factor lacking in the team of the middle 90s whom I played against,” de Silva said.
Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have formed a bowling core of the Indian side and they have been instrumental in the team not losing limited-overs series since 2016.
De Silva pointed out India is utilising the current bowling line-up.
“When wickets are flatter and slower, they have the two wristspinners (Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav) at their disposal. They have pacers who can touch 90 mph on a regular basis. This variety makes a big difference,” de Silva said.
Sri Lanka cricket has endured a disastrous couple of seasons, with their low point coming in 2017 with an ODI series loss for the first time against Zimbabwe.
COLOMBO