This Is The Kind Of Innings I've Been Dreaming Of: Deepak Chahar

Indian seam-bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar enjoyed an unforgettable night as he starred with both bat and ball to give his side a series victory against Sri Lanka in the second ODI. Deepak Chahar finished with an unbeaten 69 after grabbing two wickets in the first innings to stun the hosts by chasing 276 successfully. The right-arm seamer said that it was the kind of knock he always wanted to play.

Sri Lanka once again won the coin toss and made a solid start, stitching a 77-run opening stand. But the hosts’ innings went out of control once again as Shikhar Dhawan brought the spinners into play. It once again came down to the lower middle-order to do the rescue job as the top-order batsmen could not convert their starts into significant scores.

Charith Asalanka, who showed brilliant resistance in the first ODI, crafted the second half-century for Sri Lanka by top-scoring with 65, consisting of six fours. Deepak Chahar recovered well by taking two wickets in his next spell after conceding 27 runs off his first three overs. He finished with figures of 8-0-53-2, while Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers with three scalps.

Contrary to the first ODI, Sri Lanka’s bowling was quite penetrative. They reduced India to 121-5, removing the tourists’ star players rather cheaply. But the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Krunal Pandya, and finally Deepak Chahar made crucial contributions to script a memorable series victory for their side. Wanindu Hasaranga’s remarkable figures of 10-0-37-3 went in vain. But the man of the moment was arguably Deepak Chahar.

It was a decent score to chase on this wicket: Deepak Chahar

Deepak Chahar stated it was a good effort from them to restrict Sri Lanka to 270 as it was a decent score to chase. The right-arm seamer wanted to play such a knock and believes there was no better way to win a match for their respective country. Chahar revealed that Rahul Dravid expressed confidence in him as the number seven batsman, but hopes his chance does not come in the future games. He said that when the target came down before 50, it was then the belief came that they can win.

“It was hot there, we did well there. Got two wickets. We managed to stop them at 270. It was a decent score to chase on this wicket. Only one thing that was going on in my mind: this is the kind of innings I’ve been dreaming of. No better way to win the match for the country. Rahul sir told me to play all the balls. I’ve played a few innings with India A and I think he has belief in me. He told me he thinks I’m good enough to be a No. 7. He has belief in me. Hopefully in the coming matches I don’t have to bat. When we came under 50 is when I believed we can win. Before that it was ball by ball. I took some risks after,” Chahar told in the post-match presentation.

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