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Rahul Dravid said 'we trust you': India star on how 1st ODI vs West Indies turned
Yuzvendra Chahal credited head coach Rahul Dravid for trusting him to bowl the tough overs. "The coach always backs me. He tells me 'Yuzi just back your strengths, we trust you'...," Chahal said after India won a nail-biting contest by 3 runs on Friday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Yuzvendra Chahal, who got the important wicket of Brandon King in the 45th over to give India an upper hand in the first ODI against West Indies at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain in Trinidad, credited head coach Rahul Dravid for trusting him to bowl the tough overs. "The coach always backs me. He tells me 'Yuzi just back your strengths, we trust you'...," Chahal said after India won a nail-biting contest by 3 runs on Friday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. "And when the coaches and management give you that much confidence you are always ready to go and perform," he added.
In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja, Chahal was India's most experienced bowler in the series opener and he performed like one. The leg-spinner who returned with figures of 2 for 58 while defending 308, also dismissed the dangerous Rovman Powell apart from the timely breakthrough of Brandon King.
"I always back my strengths, I knew that the ball had become old and the ball can turn and beat the batters. So I was changing my line, bowling wider because the leg side boundary was a bit small so I thought if he hits me over cover it would be better," he said.
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When asked about his feelings about bowling the tough overs in limited-overs cricket despite being a wrist spinner, Chahal said he has got enough experience of doing the same in IPL.
"This change has come from the IPL, because there I was bowling the 16th, 17th and 18th over, so I got the confidence from there. My role was clear, I was told to bowl two-three overs after the 40th over. So I practice accordingly and also plan with our bowling coach."
The hosts needed 60 off the last 90 balls and the 56-run stand between King and Akeal Hosein (32 not out off 32) kept India on the edge. However, thanks to Chahal and Mohammed Siraj holding his nerves while bowling the last over with the Windies needing 15 for victory, India emerged winners.
"We had full faith in Siraj and that we can defend five runs in the last over as he was bowling his yorkers very well... He missed hardly one or two yorkers earlier. But yes, a little bit of pressure is always there, given the way they were batting."
Some of the big names are missing from the squad but Chahal said the bowling attack still cannot be called inexperienced."There was not much pressure, because if you look at the team overall, almost everyone has played a lot of first-class matches, they have gained so much experience from the IPL, so you can't say the bowling line-up was inexperienced," Chahal said.
Asked about stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan, who made 97 off 99 balls at the top of the order, Chahal said, "He is a cool guy, his bonding with every player is like a brother. We talk about our plans, and various situations, and sometimes we also have fun on and off the field."
The opener was closer than many expected, given that the West Indies were swept aside by a visiting Bangladesh side 3-0 in the preceding rubber.
"The wicket against Bangladesh and this wicket were totally different because there the ball was turning a lot. Credit must go to their batters, the way they batted in the middle-order. But we knew one or two wickets would put the pressure back on them," Chahal said.
