Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has slammed leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for not showing an attacking mindset in the second T20I against South Africa on Sunday. Incidentally, the hosts went down by four wickets as the Proteas chased down 149 runs with 10 balls to spare.
For the second game in a row, the Indian bowlers failed to pose any serious threat to the opposition batters, especially the spinners. The duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel were again taken to the cleaners by the visitors in the middle overs and that kicked India out of the contest.
Chahal, in particular, has been below-par after a successful IPL season. The 31-year-old leg-spinner has only managed to pick up one wicket and has conceded 75 runs in 6.1 overs. Speaking on Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir questioned his approach in the Cuttack game.
“It’s very important to vary your pace. If Chahal thinks, ‘I’ll bowl tight and get wickets’, it’s not going to happen. That’s the job of a left-arm spinner. A finger spinner is your defensive bowler, but a wrist spinner is your attacking option.”
Gautam Gambhir added:
“He (Chahal) needs to have an attacking mindset. He can give 50 runs in four overs. But if he picks up three wickets, he can take the team to a situation from which it can win the match. But if he concedes 40-50 runs and gets just one wicket, it’s a problem.”
“Needs to bowl slow and tempt the batter” – Gautam Gambhir
The Lucknow Super Giants mentor also stated that Yuzvendra Chahal needs to reduce his pace and tempt the batters to come out of the crease and attack.
“He needs to bowl slow and tempt the batter. No issue if he gets his for a couple of sixes. In the second T20I, none of the SA batters tried to step out against Chahal. They were hitting the leg-spinner from the crease, which means he (Chahal) was trying to bowl it fast. We expect those kinds of deliveries from Axar, not Chahal,” Gambhir added.
Yuzvendra Chahal will hope to bounce back in the next game as India look return to winning ways and keep the five-match series alive.
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