SL vs IND | Didn’t bowl any googlies to right-handers because of short boundaries, reveals Yuzvendra Chahal

At 23/1 after 2.3 overs, Sri Lanka were truly off to a great start, in their chase of 165 in the opening game of the three-match T20I contests. While Avishka Fernando and Dhananjaya de Silva were building up a decent partnership, Shikhar Dhawan introduced the leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack. Chahal immediately struck for the visitors, with a leg-spinner that drifted in and turned away, beating de Silva to all ends. 

"The end I was bowling from, the leg side boundary was shorter and they were looking to hit that side. That's why I didn't bowl googlies to the right-handers. I didn't want to give them confidence, I thought that if I can bowl a lot of dot balls, pressure will build. So even if I don't get a wicket, my partner from the other end can bowl more freely,” Chahal stated, reported ESPNCricinfo.

For Chahal, just like a few other stars in the lineup, this opportunity was a crucial chance to stake his claims ahead of the World T20 in October. The leg-spinner admitted that he practised hard during the off-days and didn’t make too many changes to his bowling. 

"I didn't want to make too many changes. I thought about which lines I should focus on, whether to go wider or go stump to stump. I sat with (Bharat) Arun sir, there is Paras (Mhambrey) sir here and Rahul (Dravid) sir, so I sat with them, saw videos to see what am I missing? I have been doing well, but it was not happening in a couple of matches,” he added.

"Definitely when your bench strength is so good that you have a pool of 30 players overall, it is a boost, and you get quality there. All spinners are doing well. You know that for your spot, there are already two people ready, who have already performed in the IPL, here,” he added.

However, the 31-year-old insisted that in spite of the competition, one could only stay in the team because of performances, which he strives to do during his time at the pitch.