IND vs SA | Yuzvendra Chahal needs to have an attacking mindset, opines Gautam Gambhir

India had a disappointing start to the five-match T20I series so far as they have lost first two matches of the series. The team lost by four wickets in the second T20I and are now trailing by 2-0. South Africa won the toss and opted to bowl first. They restricted the visitors to 148/6. During the chase, South Africa were in trouble as Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked three wickets in the powerplay. However, the team rode on Heinrich Klaasen’s half-century to win the game.

Klaasen scored 81 runs from 46 balls and played a game-changing knock. Yuzvendra Chahal was not able to take multiple wickets in the middle overs and also turned out to be expensive. He conceded 49 runs from his four overs taking a wicket. Reflecting on his spell, Gautam Gambhir said that Chahal should vary his pace and tempt the batter by bowling slow to go for big hits and make a mistake. 

"It's very important to vary your pace. If Chahal thinks 'I'll bowl tight and get wickets', it's not going to happen. That's the job of a left-arm spinner. A finger spinner is your defensive bowler but a wrist spinner is your attacking option. He (Chahal) needs to have an attacking mindset,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.

“He needs to bowl slow and tempt the batter. No issues if he gets his for a couple of sixes. In the second T20I, none of the SA batters tried to step out against Chahal. They were hitting the leg-spinner from the crease, which means he (Chahal) was trying to bowl it fast. We expect those kinds of deliveries from Axar, not Chahal.”

India will now play the third T20I on June 14 in Visakhapatnam.