Yuzvendra Chahal picked up four wickets in the first ODI against West Indies.
India beat West Indies by 6 wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. It was a comprehensive victory for the hosts by 6 wickets in their 1,000th ODI.
Chasing a 177-run target, India sealed the chase in 28 overs after captain Rohit Sharma's half-century. Apart from Rohit's 51-ball 60 runs, Surykumar Yadav scored unbeaten 34 runs.
But it was Yuzvendra Chahal who won the Player of the Match award for his bowling figures of 4/49. He also completed 100 ODI wickets in the match, and Rohit had a chat with him about his bowling after the match.
"You (Rohit) had told me before the match and even I thought I missed this during the South Africa tour -- I was not bowling a lot of googlies. It was in my mind and when a hard-hitter sees the ball in the slot and decides that he will go for the big shot, I have a weapon. Googly is very important for a leg-spinner," Chahal revealed.
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"You told me that the more googlies I bowl, my leg-spin will become more effective. I keep bowling them to you at the nets and then I realized that maybe I should try a bit more of these in the matches," he added.
Chahal got rid of West Indies captain Kieron Pollard with a googly and he further spoke on the dismissal. "I wanted to mix it up (1n the 1st ODI). And like we planned when Kieron Pollard came in, you told me to bowl it a bit fuller. I knew that if the length was not right, there were 80 percent chances of him hitting me for a six."
Rohit lauded the leggie for his contribution and also said that he is an important play for the team. "You are a very important player. I would tell you to play with that mindset. There will be ups and downs but keeping the mindset at the right place is very important," Rohit told Chahal.
The India captain also cheekily reminded Chahal of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) mega-auction. "And the auction is coming as well, so good luck," he said, and both had a laugh about it.