Yuzvendra Chahal defended Rishabh Pant after his wicketkeeping blunder in the second T20I.
Yuzvendra Chahal, who remained out of Team India for the home series against South Africa, made a remarkable comeback against Bangladesh. The leg-spinner, in the first game, conceded only 24 runs for one wicket. He improved on his performance in the second match as he ended with two wickets for 28 - including the all-important wicket of Mushfiqur Rahim, who was the hero of the match for Bangladesh in the first match.
After the match, Chahal stopped for an interview where he revealed how he spent his time outside the Indian team. He said that he was preparing to bowl in dew during his time on the sidelines.
"When I was not part of the India team, I was practising with the wet ball, so dew didn't affect me. My bowling depends on what I think the batsman is trying to do. Depending on that I bowl the top spinner, googly or slider," the wiry leg-break bowler said.
Chahal said that Rishabh Pant's faulty collection ahead of the stumps in his bid to dismiss Liton Das was part and parcel of the game. While Liton was out by a mile, the umpire adjudged it as 'no ball'.
Rishabh Pant's error was met by an angry reaction from his skipper Rohit Sharma, but the wicketkeeper made amends three overs later when he ran the Bangladesh opener out.
"We are team players, even I drop catches sometimes. No one wants to miss a catch or stumping, so no hard feelings with Pant. Just hard luck. Bowling in the death or powerplay gives you more confidence," Chahal said.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma also praised Chahal and Washington Sundar for their performance.
"Both Washington and Chahal understand their bowling really well. More importantly, they analyse and have conversations on where they can improve. Chahal has bowled in difficult situations and has somehow brought the team to the top," said Rohit.
"It's given him confidence. Washington has been our new-ball bowler, but today, I wanted to keep his three overs at the back. I'm an emotional guy. We were sloppy in the field, have to accept that. But focus is always on getting the job done," he said.
With an economy rate of 6.5 in the eight overs he has bowled throughout the series, Chahal has made an impressive comeback to the shortest format of the game in the side. With the series level at 1-1, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma would rely on the leg-spinner to lead the Indian bowling attack as a senior figure in the final match in Nagpur.
