Yuzvendra Chahal, who completed 50th wicket in ODI cricket during the Super Four clash against Pakistan on Sunday, has credited India’s consistent performance with the ball across formats to a pool of skillful bowlers and confidence shown by the team management.
“Our bowling pool has swelled to 10-15 and earlier it wasn’t so. Now one who is replacing you is also as skilful,” Chahal quoted as saying by PTI.
“Even in England, the way our bowlers have dominated, it shows the regular flow of spinners and medium pacers in the team. Also the confidence showed by the management, that is important for a youngster. There is no negativity, you can concentrate on your bowling,” he added.
India has played four matches in the Asia Cup 2018 thus far. Except for a mini-scare in the opening match against Hong Kong, the Men in Blue have registered resounding wins in rest of the clashes.
A rusty Indian side beat Hong Kong by 26 runs but they came back strong and demolished Pakistan in the group-stage by eight wickets. In the Super Four stage, India thrashed Bangladesh by seven wickets while they humiliated Pakistan by nine wickets on Sunday.
“We were positive from the start, because the first match against Hong Kong was tough. Next we were playing Pakistan after a long time, the atmosphere was good. We haven’t lost a match in this tournament, especially winning two matches against Pakistan will give us a boost ahead of the final,” Chahal remarked.
Sharing his experience of playing against Pakistan, Chahal said: “Generally cricketers have a bucket list, where you hope to play Pakistan one day but when we played them, it didn’t feel that we were playing Pakistan, it seemed its our own team only."
“When you go to the ground, it doesn’t matter if you are playing Pakistan or England. It is all about being mentally strong and how much pressure you can deal with,” he continued.
India have dominated Pakistan both with the bat and the ball but Chahal said it was just a case of a team having a bad day in office for their arch-rivals.
“Our batsmen put their bowlers under pressure from the start. They are playing the new ball well, they are taking their time and partnership are getting longer. In this wicket, you have to vary line and length. But they got mentally down as the match was slipping away, so the situation was different. Sometimes it happens, teams don’t have a good day but they (Pakistan) are also a good team. So it is not a one-sided thing, the tournament is still not over,” he explained.
Chahal, who has taken five wickets in Asia Cup 2018, said he tries to bowl according to the wicket.
“I have bowled a lot in the Powerplay overs in T20 matches in IPL and for India. So it is not a new thing, I vary my pace and length according to the wicket,” he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
