Muttiah Muralitharan jumps out in Yuzvendra Chahal's defence after a lacklustre show in Mohali

India made as many as four changes in the fourth ODI against Australia in Mohali. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal returned to bolster the bowling attack. But the flat pitch led to the hosts conceding the game for the first time after scoring in excess of 350 runs. The leg-spinner, playing his first match of the series, went for 80 runs in his 10-over spell and was at the receiving end of the critics.

He did pick Peter Handscomb’s crucial wicket but until then the batsman had piled on 117 runs and Australia were on course for a famous victory. On the contrary, Chahal’s counterpart, Adam Zampa has been the revelation in this series so far. He has accounted for six scalps and also conceded only 57 runs for a wicket in his 10 overs in Mohali. This effort is praiseworthy as plenty of runs were on offer on the day.

Meanwhile, the former Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has come out in support of Chahal and termed him as a champion bowler. He then slammed the critics for expecting the leggie to deliver and pick five in every game and adviced them to have patience.

He is no robot

“You cannot expect the kid to pick five wickets every time he goes out to bowl. He is a champion bowler and has been bowling really well in the last two years. He has shown that he has the variety and the guile to dismiss opposition batsmen,” Murali was quoted as saying by India Today.

One of the best spinners of all-time, Muralitharan, also urged everyone to not put pressure on Yuzvendra Chahal and called it as a one-off failure for him. “It is a case of him failing in one game and trust me, he is no robot. You cannot put pressure on the boy by expecting him to deliver in every game. Have some patience,” he further added.

Chahal himself would like to make amends in the decider now which will be played in Virat Kohli‘s hometown Delhi on Wednesday.

[interaction id=”5c86604218d43d4f62bc1c78″]

Get the latest Cricket News and updates from India vs Australia series, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.