India who are among the top favourites to win the World Cup, began their 2019 campaign for the ICC mega event with a fantastic 6-wicket win over the Proteas at Southampton on June 5. The Men in Blue completely destroyed South Africa’s batting unit as they found themselves at a mere 227-9 in their quota of 50 overs.

Yuzvendra Chahal was the amongst the wickets on his World Cup debut as his figures read 4-51 in his 10 overs with an economy of just 5.1.

In Chahal’s 4 wickets included a big wicket of South African skipper Faf du Plessis. When asked about du Plessis’ dismissal, the leggie said, “I loved the manner in which I dismissed Faf. Since I was getting my deliveries to drift, I planned bowling a slider on off-stump and he didn’t read.”

Chahal who is also known for being a former chess player was asked about chess helping him in cricket to which the 28-year-old said, “Chess has taught me patience and planning. When you play chess, you normally plan 15 to 16 moves in advance. Ditto when you bowl to a player like Faf (Du Plessis), you need to plan whether to bowl a googly or a flipper, which are the deliveries they are picking and the ones they can’t pick.”

When Indian skipper Virat Kohli was asked about the Haryana based right arm legbreak bowler, Kohli said, “He is ready to bowl in Powerplays. If you keep seven fielders inside the circle, even then he is ready. He has a very high degree of self-belief and the way he thinks about the game is very different from others.”

“He is fully aware about the behaviour of the pitch and what needs to be done. That is his strength. Whatever he has achieved today, the credit solely goes to him as all he had done is to bowl his heart out,” skipper added.

After beating the Proteas, Virat Kohli and Co. take on the Aussies at The Oval in London on June 9.

(With PTI inputs)