Aggressive Virat Kohli gives me freedom to attack, says Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he picked up as many as three Australian wickets in the first ODI in Chennai.

Yuzvendra Chahal is revelling under Virat Kohli’s leadership, be it at Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) or the Indian cricket team. An aggressive spinner in his own right, Chahal, however, attributed Kohli’s leadership as the reason why he looks more threatening. (Highlights) (Scorecard)

Indian cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal celebrates the wicket of Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell with captain Virat Kohli during the first One-Day International at the MA Chidhambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.(AFP)

“Wrist-spinners are mostly attacking and when your captain is so attacking you get freedom to attack more,” Chahal said after India’s win. He took 3/30 in five overs, accounting for the wickets of Glen Maxwell, Matthew Wade and Pat Cummins.

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Together with chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, the latest wrist-spinner duo accounted for half the Australian side. Chahal attributed this success to planning with Yadav on how to bowl according to the situation and the pitch.

“We don’t think a lot about what’s happening around. We go by the situation and since both of us are attacking bowlers, we go for wickets. Depending on match situation, we look at things,” the 27-year-old said.

“If he bowls first, I tell him where the ball is spinning from and how we can get him out. Because we both look for wickets, there is no point in playing safe. You don’t win matches that way. If from a different end there is a bowler, he gets a chance,” he said.

One of the most successful bowlers for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the recent past, Chahal credited his Indian Premier League (IPL) experience as one of the reasons behind his success on Sunday.

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“I have bowled a lot to him (Maxwell) in the IPL. We had to spin him out. We couldn’t play defensive. It was important to change our lines. If he plays a good shot, that’s fine. If he scores outside off, then he could get out,” Chahal said.

Add to that the constant guidance of Kohli and MS Dhoni from behind the stumps.

“Kuldeep’s deliveries come in. So, Mahi bhai and Virat bhai asked me to push it outside and keep checking his feet, bowl outside off and mix it up,” said Chahal.

Chahal also hailed the way Dhoni and Hardik Pandya resurrected India’s innings.

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“The way the pitch behaved, Mahi bhai and Pandya batted outstandingly. If we reached 230-240 and there was turn, we had Kuldeep and Kedar bhai. Obviously at 87 for 5, Australia were 70 percent in the game.

“But the way they played, the momentum came through Zampa’s over. And on this wicket 280 was a winning total. In the end, we bowled quite well. Our plus point was that the wicket turned and our start was good. We put pressure from the start,” he said.