Royal Challengers Bangalore has always struggled to find the right balance in their game XI. RCB has often been criticized for being overly reliant on his hitting, while the bowling department has often found itself lacking. But a bright light in his bowling unit has always been the Yuzvendra Chahal roulette wheel. The leg-spinner has always been a reliable choice for RCB and has often been found in the race for the Purple Cap.
It’s no different this season as well as Chahal has been in good shape and has won 5 wickets for RCB at IPL 2020. Bowling at the friendly little Chinnaswamy Stadium is not an easy task for a bowler, but Chahal it has made a name for itself on the same ground. But he’s finding the UAE’s biggest grounds “heavenly” to play with and said he’s reaping the rewards of bowling a faster version of his googly this IPL season.
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Chahal has taken five wickets in three games so far with his triple strike in RCB’s opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad setting up an emphatic victory. The astute operator dismissed Vijay Shankar with a perfectly placed googly that turned sharply from the fourth stump.
The Indian spinner had tried to throw his mistakes faster than usual before the IPL and Adam Zampa’s company at RCB camp is helping him on that front as well.
“We (Zampa and Chahal) are always talking, not only on the networks. I have been watching his bowling style since he joined the Australian team. Anyway, I was trying to throw faster googlies at this IPL alongside the slower ones. That gives the batter less chance to hit me, ”Chahal said in an online media interaction Thursday.
Chahal said that none other than the great AB de Villiers has advised him to use his Google sparingly. “If you’re throwing leg twist from the fourth or fifth stump, from there you can googly throw and the batter thinks the leg twist is coming, so he just has to read from my hand. If they are not reading there will surely be problems, “he said.
“Being able to throw Virat bhaiya and Ab sir also helps. They give me feedback on the correct line and length. Mr. AB has told me to shoot googlies depending on the situation. ”
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The 30-year-old, who is used to bowling on a relentless field like Chinnaswamy Stadium, said the larger grounds in Dubai and Abu Dhabi allow spinners to offer more flight, which is his strength anyway.
“It’s great to play here. We play half (seven) of our matches in Chinnaswamy, but here only three matches in Sharjah (which is also a small field). With the lateral limits (in Dubai and Abu Dhabi), you can fly a little more.
“In small areas, if the gate turns, it is difficult to lock you up. Here the wickets are fine, but with bigger limits, the hitters really need to measure you to hit those six. Even a short ball can give you a window.
“The dew is an important factor. We are slowly learning how to counter that. It’s also very humid, so we sweat a lot more (which makes it harder to catch the ball).
Chahal echoed Kohli’s view that the current squad is RCB’s most balanced since the 2016 edition in which he reached the final.
“We have a more balanced side this season, especially in bowling. It’s not just me, everyone has a different feeling, the one we had in 2016. There is positivity from everyone ”.
Coming back from a long break, have you returned to bowling at your best? “During the confinement I only practiced for 10 days. Before the first game I was worried about my pace, since I had not bowled for six months. I was nervous, but after my first lap, the nerves calmed down, ”he said.
“I wasn’t sure I could pitch my variations, but the performance from the first game gave me a lot of confidence.”
(with PTI inputs)
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