The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday named Yuzvendra Shahal's magnificent six-wicket haul against England as the ICC T20I Performance of the Year 2017.
Chasing a mammoth 203 at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium, England were on track till the 13th over, scoring 119/2 before Chahal's magical spell (6/25) put the visitors on the back foot as they surrendered meekly to lose their last eight wickets for just eight runs and end on 127.
England started well with opener Jason Roy (32) and Joe Root (42) putting on 47 runs for the second wicket before Root combined with skipper Eoin Morgan (40) and added 64 runs for the third wicket to put them in a commanding position.
But thereafter it was Chahal all the way, who triggered a collapse by sending back Morgan and Root off consecutive deliveries before pacer Jasprit Bumrah (3/14) added to their woes by striking in the very next over to dismiss wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler (0).
England's batsmen were in such a hurry that it hardly took Chahal another over to take three more wickets of Ben Stokes (6), Moeen Ali (2) and Chris Jordan (0) and dash any hopes of a recovery. As many as six English batsmen were dismissed for a duck while only three managed to reach double figures.
"It always feels like home," Chahal said after the match. "I've bowled in the Powerplay before in the IPL, and Virat has confidence in me that I can do that. I plan that batsmen will want to go for their shots because it's a small ground, so I have a chance for wickets. I bowl a fuller length, so I have a chance for lbws if they miss the sweep and reverse-sweep. I never dreamed I'd get six wickets."
Chahal was named Player of the Match and Player of the Series as he ended with figures of 6/25 - the best by an Indian bowler in T20I history, and the third-best of all time, behind only Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis, who took 6/8 and 6/16 against Zimbabwe and Australia respectively.
"I have a lot of faith in him, and he plays with a lot of confidence," Kohli said after the match. "He has a lot of skill and he has the character as well."
