India vs SA 3rd T20: Yuzvendra Chahal reveals SECRET for turnaround in form
Team India kept its hopes alive in the five-match T20 series by sweeping 48 runs against South Africa in the third T20 match being played in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday (June 14). Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was the star of the win, claiming 3/20 in four overs.
Under pressure to perform after two poor performances in the series, the IPL 2022 Purple Cap-winner changed his form to help India level the series. Chahal, who was awarded the Player of the Match for his sensational spell, said he bowled for “his strength”.
“I was bowling a lot of high and fast sliders in the last game. I spoke to Paras (Mhambre) sir and the coaches about this. So I tried to bowl fast leg breaks, but today with a different seam position. I want to turn and sink the ball, I couldn’t do that last time so they were able to hit through the line. I tried to take some turns and change the line of the ball,” Chahal said in the post-match presentation.
“When you get middle-order batsmen out in the middle overs, there is pressure on them. Batsmen try to do a lot of sweeps and reverse sweeps these days so we as bowlers have to be prepared for that as well.
Glad that his team was finally able to execute their plan to perfection, India skipper Rishabh Pant stressed on the importance of spinners performing well in the middle overs, especially in Indian conditions.
“The execution from the bowlers and the batsmen was spot-on. We were 15 runs short, but we weren’t thinking about that. The bowlers did a great job for us,” Pant said in the post-match presentation.
#TeamIndia First win as captain
Well done, @RishabhPant17! #INDvSA | @Paytm pic.twitter.com/3fhaXK24XX – BCCI (@BCCI) June 14, 2022
It was a much better performance from Chahal (3/20) and Axar Patel (1/28), who scored 75 and 59 runs in six and five overs respectively in the last two matches.
“In India, spinners play a big role. They have batsmen in the middle overs. So there is pressure on them to perform, but in such matches when it comes down to it, that’s what happens.”
However, the captain was not happy with the collapse of the middle-order batting, leaving India a few runs short of the expected total. “I don’t think it’s a good thing for us (not performing the middle order), but after a good start it’s difficult for the new batsmen to go straight. We will try to improve in the next match.”
(with PTI input)