Yuzvendra Chahal Has Proved How Important He Can Be In Middle Overs: Rohit Sharma

India’s decision to drop Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav from the T20I squad for the series against West Indies and South Africa was really baffling. Both the spinners have been an integral part of the white-ball teams in the last two years or so because of their impressive performances. And thus their omission from the team raised a number of eyebrows.

Well, India finally recalled Yuzvendra Chahal for the ongoing series against Bangladesh and the leg-spinner didn’t take long to prove his worth. The spinner has been India’s stand-out bowler in the series so far. And ahead of the third T20I, India’s stand-in captain Rohit Sharma lauded Yuzvendra Chahal’s ability to outthink batsmen.

“This is a very, very new unit. But Chahal, for the last two years has 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.

“He bowled well in the IPL, and then his performance got recognised 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,” he added.

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In the first T20I, Yuzvendra Chahal conceded just 24 runs while picking up one wicket. He could have had more but India erred with the DRS calls before Krunal Pandya dropped Mushfiqur Rahim at a crucial stage. In the second game, he dismissed Rahim and Soumya Sarkar inside an over to derail Bangladesh’s innings.

Rohit further said that Chahal’s ability to outthink the batsman is what makes him different from others. T

“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.

“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,” said Rohit.

The three-match series, meanwhile, is currently locked at 1-1. After losing the series-opener, India bounced back in style to win the second game by eight wickets in Rajkot.