IND vs BAN | Yuzvendra Chahal has proved his value again in middle overs, says Rohit Sharma
Indian stand-in T20 skipper Rohit Sharma has praised the performance of leggie Yuzvendra Chahal especially in the middle overs. Chahal was left out of the Indian T20I squad against West Indies and South Africa, but he has shown how crucial he is for the team with his performances against Bangladesh.
Yuzvendra Chahal has been absolutely crucial for India in the series against Bangladesh, especially in the absence of strike bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and he has performed extremely well in the two T20Is. He has out thought the batsman on many occasions and proving just how important he is to the Indian team. Skipper Rohit Sharma was absolutely pleased with Chahal's performance and credited him for always being one step ahead of what the batsman is thinking.
"This is a very, very new unit. But Chahal, for the last two years have been extremely consistent with how he has performed in white-ball cricket. Even in the ODI format, he has done extremely well for us," said Rohit ahead of the series decider against Bangladesh.
"He bowled well in the IPL, and then his performance got recognized and he was picked for the Indian team in the ODI format. Since then, he's been one of the important members of the squad, and he's proved that in this series, how important he can be in the middle overs."
Rohit lauded Chahal's ability to read the batsman's mind and said that that is what makes Chahal a strike bowler for India.
"He knows what he's trying to do, and he exactly knows what the batsman is trying to do. He's basically trying to stay ahead of the game, ahead of the batsman. That makes him a little more challenging for any batsman. He has understood that really well, and he's got variation and skills," Rohit asserted.
"If you have that in this format, you will definitely succeed. He's bowled well in the middle overs and even in the PowerPlay. He's not afraid to bowl even at the end. I used him in the 18th over as well and he bowled pretty well in that over as well. He gives us so much flexibility."
With the series level at 1-1, the third T20I at Nagpur promises to be a cracker of a game and Rohit expects the pitch to play well throughout the 40 overs.
"Nagpur generally is a very good track to play cricket actually. It assists the bowlers also if you are bowling in the right channels," Rohit said.
"Even the Rajkot pitch there was something in there for the bowlers. Our spinners especially were getting a lot of turn. The pitch doesn't matter if you have skills and variations in your armoury," he concluded.