Rahul Chahar reveals that Tahir is his go-to person whenever he needs tips for bowling

The 19-year-old Rahul Chahar has had a decent run so far with the Mumbai Indians in the 12th edition of the IPL with 10 scalps in 10 matches. While growing up the leg-spinner from Rajasthan used to look up to the Australian legend Shane Warne as his idol. However, since his days with the Rising Pune Supergiant, Chahar started idolizing his the then-teammate, Imran Tahir.

The 40-year-old South African bowler is not only the most energetic while celebrating wickets but also an inspiration to the youngsters like Rahul Chahar. While Chahar now represents the Mumbai Indians, Tahir plays for the Chennai Super Kings and is also the highest wicket-taker (21) of the franchise in this season. 

Even though both cricketers are separated by IPL franchises now, the mutual respect and Chahar idolizing Tahir hasn’t changed at all. To quote Chahar, according to the Sportstar, he still calls up Tahir whenever he has a concern with his bowling.“I have his (Tahir’s) contact number, so whenever I have a problem, I call him up and he guides me. He always helps me.”

Chahar admits that he has learned a lot by following Tahir and that when he went to England with the India U-19 team, he took tips from the veteran leggie. “When I was a kid, I would follow Warne. Now, I follow Tahir. He brings in variation and no matter how the wicket or the conditions are, he generates turn. He knows how to ball in every condition. That helps. When I went to England with India U-19 team, I did not know how to deliver in those conditions. It is difficult to grip the ball there, so he told me to put some sand on the ball and that worked,” Chahar said.

There’s a lot to learn from experienced cricketers, says Chahar

He also added how other veterans of the game have helped him out in dire situations. “Experiences teach you a lot. Last year also, I was with MI, even though I did not play. But I got to learn a lot. Be it from Sachin (Tendulkar) sir, (Mahela) Jayawardene, Bondy (Shane Bond)…,” he said.

Even in this season when he was facing problems initially, Zaheer Khan-Mumbai’s Director of Cricket Operations- guided him. “There was some problem with my delivery. The ball was not turning near the stumps, so next day, Zaheer sir got me to the nets and told me how to get the right turn. They are always around, so it helps,” he concluded.

[interaction id=”5ccd6d146fdf9a5f2ae43bdb”]

Join CricTracker on Telegram. Match Predictions, Fantasy Guides and other handpicked stories every day. Subscribe to our Telegram channel.