When Chahar was introduced into the attack in the ninth over, KKR had a sound start with 62 for no loss during their chase of 152. But, in his first over he sent back Shubman Gill and then in his next over, stunned Rahul Tripathi
Rahul Chahar and MI celebrate the wicket of Shubman Gill. Picture/ PTI
Mumbai Indians’ (MI) leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (4-27), who turned the equation, taking Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) top four wickets in their 10-run win in IPL match at Chennai on Tuesday, credited skipper Rohit Sharma’s smart move for creating psychological pressure on the opponents.
When Chahar was introduced into the attack in the ninth over, KKR had a sound start with 62 for no loss during their chase of 152. But, in his first over he sent back Shubman Gill (24-ball 33) off a quicker one and then in his next over, stunned Rahul Tripathi (5) with a big spinner which Quinton de Kock took a sharp catch behind the stumps. Chahar’s two other victims included KKR skipper Eoin Morgan (7) and the well set Nitish Rana (57 in 47 balls).
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Generally, in a T20 game, you hardly see a slip and a silly point fielder, but KKR’s hard-hitting batsman Andre Russell (9), who had a big day taking 5-15 with his medium pace, experienced it when left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya (1-13) was bowling to him in the 16th over and that worked for the defending champions to build pressure.
“When I was bowling to Tripathi we had a slip and two cover fielders. When Morgan came to bat we had a slip and leg slip too. That shows we were mentally playing with an attacking approach and were trying to take wickets,” Chahar said during the post-match virtual press conference on Tuesday night.
Chahar, 21, also revealed how Rohit boosted his confidence while defending a low total.
“He [Rohit] just said, ‘bowl with confidence. When I [Rohit] was batting against you, I also failed to understand your bowling. So, they [opponents] hardly know your bowling. Just be focused, bowl on a good length and try to turn the ball.’ Here I realised that if there is anyone who can turn the game, it is the spinner. So, I got that confidence to perform,” remarked Chahar.
When asked how he handles the pressure and was there any during Tuesday’s game, Chahar, who has taken three wickets in as many T20I games for Team India, said: “Actually, there was no pressure at all. I was bowling to big players in the nets when I was with the Indian team. I am with MI for the last four years and was bowling to [Kieron] Pollard and Hardik [Pandya], who are the world’s best hitters. So, when I faced difficult situations during a match, I didn’t feel that pressure.”
Earlier, riding on Suryakumar Yadav (36-ball 56, 7x4, 2x6) and Rohit (32-ball 43, 3x4, 1x6) MI posted 152 in the allotted 20 overs.
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