Ajay Jadeja believes Yuzvendra Chahal can now perhaps ask captain Virat Kohli about his non-selection in the T20 World Cup squad. The statement from Ajay Jadeja has come following leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s brilliant run in the UAE leg of the current IPL season.
Ajay Jadeja made his comments after the Haryana leg-spinner pulled off yet another brilliant performance (3/29 in four overs) on Sunday afternoon. This one came against the Punjab Kings to lead the Royal Challengers Bangalore into the playoffs.
Ajay Jadeja: Yuzvendra Chahal’s Skills And Sharpness Came To The fore During Tense Run Chases
Ajay Jadeja reckoned that Yuzvendra Chahal thrives in pressured crunch situations. The former Indian cricketer believes Yuzvendra Chahal’s street-smartness comes to the fore massively in tough game-changing tough situations.
“Chahal’s skills and mental sharpness come to the fore during high-pressure run-chases. He scripted a turnaround in just one over. After he dismissed Mayank Agarwal, he was mentally all over the rest of the batsmen. Perhaps, now he can ask captain Kohli about his snub from the T20 World Cup squad which he couldn’t have done before because his performance wasn’t great,” said Ajay Jadeja.
Yuzvendra Chahal claimed his first wicket in the form of Nicholas Pooran. He followed it up with the dismissals of a dangerous-looking Mayank Agarwal and Sarfaraz Khan in one over as RCB beat Punjab Kings by six runs.
Yuzvendra Chahal Has Been Sensational In The IPL 2021 UAE Leg So Far
Yuzvendra Chahal’s omission from India’s T20 World Cup squad was one of the biggest talking points in Indian cricket. Fans and pundits have questioned the selector’s call. The likes of spinners Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, and Varun Chakravarthy were preferred over Yuzvendra Chahal who wasn’t selected even among the standby players.
But to put things in perspective, his performance had taken a massive dip in the past 15 months leading into the UAE leg of the IPL. Since the start of 2020, the right-arm leggie has managed just 11 wickets in 13 T20Is at an average of 41.36 and a highly expensive economy rate of 8.92.
Yuzvendra Chahal was dropped from playing XI midway through the T20I series against England at India earlier this year. His performance during the Indian leg of the IPL wasn’t great either. In 7 games, he managed just 4 wickets at an average of 47.5 and an economy rate of 8.26.
But, the 30-year-old has stormed back in the UAE leg and has regularly come up with consistent match-winning performances. His numbers in the second phase read: 1/23 (2), 1/26 (4), 3/11 (4), 2/18 (4), 3/29 (4), which sumps up to 10 wickets in 5 matches.
If he continues in the same vein in the remaining games of the team’s season, he may just sneak his way into the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup as the deadline for changing the team for T20I World Cup 2021 is October 10.
From having made his debut for RCB in 2014 to earning a national call-up in 2016 and taking 100 wickets in the IPL, Yuzvendra Chahal has had an impressive career so far. In his international career thus far, the 30-year old has bagged 97 and 63 wickets in 56 ODIs and 49 T20Is respectively apart from 135 scalps in 111 IPL games.
The RCB spinner has taken 10 wickets in five matches in the UAE this season while Rahul Chahar has only managed to get two wickets and proved a tad bit too expensive for the defending champions Mumbai Indians. All the teams can make changes to their provisional squad by October 10.
Royal Challengers Bangalore 164 for 7 (Maxwell 57, Padikkal 40, Henriques 3-12) beat Punjab Kings 158 for 6 (Agarwal 57, Rahul 39, Chahal 3-29) by six runs