Pressure built by pacers helped spinners take wickets, claims Yuzvendra Chahal

Pressure built by pacers helped spinners take wickets, claims Yuzvendra Chahal

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Yuzvendra Chahal has stated that without the pressure built upon the Pakistani batsmen by Indian pacers in the initial overs, spinners wouldn't have been able to take wickets later in the game. He further stated that the Pakistani bowlers did their bit but Indian openers kept building pressure.

India and Pakistan clashed for the second time in the Asia Cup, this time in the Super four stage, and the result of the match was not much different from the previous encounter. In the first match, India had bowled out Pakistan for a paltry score of 163 runs and later chased it with ease. The second match between the arch-rivals started off with India bowling first and Indian Pacers building tremendous pressure initially.

They didn't give the Pakistani openers any chance to open their hands conceding just only four boundaries in the first 15 overs, which added to their frustration as they gave away early wickets to the spinners. Chahal picked two wickets giving away just 46 runs in the 9 overs he bowled and credited it to the pressure built by pacers. 

"The new-ball bowlers usually bowl seven to eight overs before we spinners come into the attack, and the pressure they build on the batsmen with the new ball – they concede not more than 20-25 runs – helps us plan our line of attack as to where to bowl to maintain that pressure. Because if you don't give away boundaries in this format, the batsmen will inevitably be under pressure,” he said after the match. 

The wrist spinner started off in the eighth over inside the first powerplay and hardly took time to accustom himself to the pertaining conditions. He later revealed that he has been comfortable with bowling in the powerplays because of playing a lot in T20 cricket.

“I have bowled quite a lot during the Powerplay in the IPL [Indian Premier League] and T20s, so this isn't anything new for me," he said. "I keep practising for it in the nets and vary my pace and lengths according to the wicket,” he said.

While Indian spinners shared four wickets amongst them, Pakistani spinners failed to produce a similar result, especially Shadab Khan, who gave away 54 runs in eight overs. Chahal stated that Pakistani bowlers did their bit but Indian openers’ 210-runs partnership for the first wicket had already built pressure.

“Our batsmen put their bowlers under pressure right from the word go. At times, when batsmen are not under pressure, it becomes easy to face the bowlers. And on this wicket, you have got to vary your lines and lengths. I think they have been doing that, but the situation here was slightly different in that we were 150 without loss, and that's why (Pakistan's) bowlers were also down mentally,” he concluded.

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