The skipper told us to bowl without fear and that helped us: Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have been a fantastic spin-bowling pair for India. They have played some really good cricket in the last few months. The third ODI against Sri Lanka saw Kuldeep and Chahal bag six wickets between them which turned the tide. The two wrist-spinners have been bamboozling the batters now and again. Their good performances have been compared to that of Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

Chahal and Kuldeep are extremely talented young cricketers but drawing comparisons with the seasoned stars is unfair. The Haryana leggie denied all the comparisons and was adamant not to even talk about. He said that Ashwin and Jadeja have performed all over the world whereas the young duo has gone as far as Sri Lanka. The comparisons made are unfair and it will only create unnecessary controversies.

Don’t compare us now – Chahal

The 27-year-old also said that Ashwin and Jadeja have been around for 5-6 years whereas Kuldeep and he is just 4-5 series old.

“Ashwin and Jadeja have done so much in the last 5-6 years. We have played only for four-five series. It is unfair to compare me and Kuldeep with them. Our aim is to give our best when we go out and play. If you start comparing now itself to them, it will not be right. We have played most of our games in India, one series in Sri Lanka but the conditions were similar to India. We have not played overseas,” said Chahal after the third ODI.

The plan was to attack

He said that their plan was to attack the Sri Lankan batters as the wicket was spinning. He also stated that the captain asked the duo to bowl without fear and that yielded the leggies three wickets each. Their aim was to give the ball some air so that batsmen were drawn at the ball. The one that got Mathews out was the ball of the match from Yuzvendra Chahal.

“Sri Lanka were under pressure and we needed wickets. We put one slip in place. The wicket was assisting spin. On this wicket, you needed a slip because the shot Niroshan Dickwella attempted, if there was no slip in place, it would have been a boundary. He had tried it in the previous match. (Skipper) Rohit Sharma told us to bowl without fear. If one bowls short, batsmen can easily play on this track. So, the aim was to bowl with a bit more air,” he added.

“The ball to Mathews drifted in and turned away by which he played down the wrong line and got beaten. It was the ball of the match for me,” concluded Chahal.