IPL 2021: Rohit Sharma Didn’t Say Much As Even He Struggles To Face My Bowling In Nets, Rahul Chahar Reveals Mumbai Indians Skipper’s Advice Against KKR

Mumbai Indians’ (MI) spinner Rahul Chahar showcased a brilliant bowling performance against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2021 on Tuesday (April 13). The right-arm spinner Rahul Chahar dismantled Kolkata Knight Riders’ top order as they chased a 153-run target in the match.

Chahar dismissed Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, and Eoin Morgan to send Kolkata Knight Riders on backfoot while chasing.

Kolkata Knight Riders openers Nitish Rana (57) and Shubman Gill (33) provided a great start to the team with 72-1 in 8.5 overs. However, the next batsmen who arrived on the crease lost their wickets for just single-digit scores and tuned the game in Mumbai Indians’ favour.

In the last 5 overs, Kolkata Knight Riders just needed 31 runs with 6 wickets in hand. However, great death over bowling by Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Trent Boult witnessed Mumbai Indians earning the victory by 10 runs.

Rohit Sharma Struggles To Face My Bowling In Nets: Rahul Chahar

After the match, the Indian spinner Rahul Chahar revealed skipper Rohit Sharma’s advice to him during the match. Chahar, who won the player of the match award, also mentioned that Sharma didn’t say much and asked him to turn the ball.  He also revealed that even MI skipper struggles to face his bowling in the nets.

“He (Rohit Sharma) didn’t say much. He always tells me that bowl with full confidence as you are a very good bowler. He tells me that he sometimes struggles to pick some balls when he bats against me in the nets.

“He asked to keep the focus and try to turn the ball. I knew that in this match, if someone had to turn things around then, it had to be a spinner. I had the confidence in myself,” the spinner said.

Chahal also said that setting the attacking field in the match helped them to get a psychological upper hand over KKR batsmen. Rohit Sharma kept a slip and close-in fielder to Andre Russell during the end.

“Yes, we get a psychological upper hand. Even when I was bowling to Rahul Tripathi, we had 2 covers and a slip. Even for Eoin Morgan, we had a slip and a leg slip. It shows we are attacking and confident,” Rahul Chahar further said.

After the victory against Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians moved to the 2nd spot on the points table with 2 points in 2 matches and a net run rate of +0.225. Mumbai Indians earlier lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Mumbai Indians will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in the next game on April 17 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders will lock horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore in their next match at the same stadium on April 18.