Team India’s veteran leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has claimed that he worked very hard on his bowling during the lockdown and also when he was out of the playing XI due to his poor form. Chahal, who has been out of the national team for quite some time, has returned to the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka. He has struggled with his rhythm in international cricket over the past few months.
However, he did well in India’s 38-run win in the first T20I, returning figures of 1 for 19 in his allotted four overs as well. In a post-match conference, he was asked how he managed to do well after having the disappointments in recent times.
While responding during the post-match presser, the leg-spinner revealed: “Definitely, when I was not playing, I worked hard with my coach on where to bowl. I was trying to figure out why I was not able to perform in a couple of matches. So I worked on these even during the lockdown. I bowled with a single wicket (to aim at). I practiced with my friends as to where should I bowl. This type of bowling is my strength so I backed myself before I came to this tour.”
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While Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the Man of the Match award for his stunning figures of 4 for 22, Chahal got the wicket of Dhananjaya de Silva (9) with amazing delivery. He flighted the ball that turned away enough to beat the outside edge and hit the stump as well.
However, while he was asked to explain the changes he made to his bowling to get back his rhythm, Yuzvndra Chahal explained that he worked on getting the line and length right.
Chahal said: “During the lockdown, I reviewed my bowling but I did not want to make too many changes. I wanted to look at the finer points like which line I must focus more on, whether I should bowl wider or stump-to-stump. I sat with Arun sir earlier (bowling coach Bharat Arun). Here, I sought guidance from Paras sir (Paras Mhambrey) and Rahul sir (Dravid). I sat down with them and watched videos of what I was missing and why I wasn’t able to perform like before. I backed myself to perform after that.”
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“I couldn’t practice much during lockdown due to COVID. However, whatever sessions I managed to get, I practiced hard. I have been playing with one cricketer since childhood in my hometown. I bowled to him and spoke to him as well. The main thing was I have to remain confident during my bowling to perform well,” he concluded.
