IPL 2021: Rahul Chahar reveals how Rohit Sharma’s advice helped him in the KKR vs MI match

Rahul Chahar, the Mumbai Indians (MI) leg-spinner, said that skipper Rohit Sharma’s advice worked wonders for him in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Tuesday, April 13. In the fifth match of the IPL, MI won by 10 runs and Chahar went on to become the Player of the Match after picking up four wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Chasing 153, Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana’s 72-run partnership for the opening wicket put the Knights on the driver’s seat. But Chahar made the breakthroughs and brought MI back into the game. Chahar revealed how Rohit also faces troubles to face the leggie in the nets.

He asked to keep the focus and try to turn the ball: Rahul Chahar

“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,” Chahar was quoted as saying after the match.

Chahar also stated how they set attacking fields to the likes of Andre Russell, Rahul Tripathi, and KKR skipper Eoin Morgan. All three batters couldn’t get into double digits and perished in quick succession.

“Yes, we get a psychological upper hand. (Rohit Sharma employed a slip and close-in fielder to Andre Russell). 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,” he added.

Chahar got the wicket of Rana, Gill, Tripathi, and Morgan. Russell fell prey to fast bowler Trent Boult. With the win, MI also opened their account in the tournament after their two-wicket defeat to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Chepauk itself. MI’s next game is against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on April 17 in Chennai.

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