'That was Dravid's call' - Bhuvneshwar Kumar reveals Rahul Dravid's game-changing decision in SL vs IND 2nd ODI

Known for his ability to swing the ball, Deepak Chahar put up a batting exhibition in the second ODI against Sri Lanka and took India to a thrilling three-wicket win at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Chasing 275 for victory, India suffered a batting collapse with dashers like Ishan Kishan, Prithvi Shaw, and Hardik Pandy failing to make a mark. India even lost seven wickets inside 200 runs and their defeat seemed inevitable.

However, Chahar had different plans. He refused to put his guards down and toiled the Sri Lankan bowlers. The pacer played shots all over the park and brought up his maiden half-century in international cricket. He remained unbeaten at 69 as the visitors got over the line in the final over. Chahar was well supported by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who also contributed with 19 handy runs.

Notably, some eyebrows were initially raised over the batting order as Chahar came ahead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The latter had played several brilliant knocks for India in the past and was expected to come at number eight. However, Chahar occupied that spot and the decision proved to be spot on.

The way Deepak Chahar batted was amazing: Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar, after the game, revealed it was head coach Rahul Dravid’s call to promote Chahar ahead of him. The pacer also said that he and Chahar planned to stay till the end. “Our aim was to play till the last ball, last over, so we wanted to take it as deep as possible, so we can score runs. The only plan was to play till the last, and the way Deepak batted was amazing,” Bhuvneshwar said at the post-match virtual press conference.

“Look, he has played under coach Rahul Dravid before in India A or some series and he had scored there as well. So, Dravid knew that he can bat and he can hit a few balls, so that was Dravid’s call,” he added.

Meanwhile, India have now gained an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. However, Shikhar Dhawan’s wouldn’t like to slow down to register a clean sweep. The third and final ODI takes place on Friday (July 23).

Get all the latest cricket news & updates, cricket stats, T20 World Cup news & much more on CricTracker