Deepak Chahar put on a show with the ball to help India register a series-clinching 30-run victory over Bangladesh in the third and final T20I in Nagpur on Sunday (November 10).
Dew under lights was a major threat as India strived to defend the target of 175 runs. At one stage, Bangladesh were cruising in the chase with Mohammad Naim striking the ball cleanly. But Chahar wreaked havoc on the visiting batsmen in his second spell and turned the match on its head.
Read Also: Deepak Chahar narrowly misses out on claiming second hat-trick in three days
The 27-year-old pacer finished with the record-breaking figures of 6/7 as India eventually won the match comfortably.
Speaking to TimesofIndia.com, Chahar, who also became the first Indian male cricketer to pick a hat-trick in the shortest format, gave a lot of the credit for his success to his IPL captain at Chennai Super Kings, MS Dhoni.
“I want to give all the credit to the IPL. I have learnt a lot at CSK and from Dhoni bhai. How to read the body language of a batsman and then bowl accordingly. All these things are helping me a lot in international cricket. I have a habit of watching videos of batsmen against whom I will have to bowl in a match. This has also helped me take my game to a different level. It feels great when your hard work pays off,” he said.
“It has been more than two years that I have been playing under him (Dhoni). He has scolded me a lot also on the field. I have learnt a lot from those incidents too. He will observe you from behind the wickets. It has happened quite often, when he has told me a couple of things before bowling a delivery and I have ended up taking a wicket. Bowling in the death overs isn’t easy at all. This is the main thing I have learnt from him. Those things that I learnt from Dhoni bhai are helping me a lot at the international level. I am in touch with him (Dhoni). Sometimes I speak with him while playing PubG (laughs)," the paceman added.
Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar were his victims in the first spell while Chahar got rid of Mohammad Mithun, Aminul Islam, Shafiul Islam and Mustafizur Rahman in his second spell.
His hat-trick was spread over two overs. He dismissed Shafiul Islam off the last delivery of the 18th over, and then got rid of Mustafizur Rahman and Aminul Islam in the first two deliveries of the 20th over to achieve the rare feat.
“Claiming a hat-trick is not easy for a bowler. It all depends on the day and time, and destiny too. All three worked in my favour against Bangladesh,” Chahar said.
Interestingly, Deepak Chahar was not aware that he is on the verge of claiming a hat-trick. However, when he got to know, he changed his plan for the next delivery.
“I wasn’t aware it was my hat-trick ball. When I was about to start my run-up, my team-mates started cheering. Fans were clapping and cheering too. I looked at the giant screen and then I got to know it was a hat-trick ball. The moment I got to know it was a hat-trick ball, I changed my plan. I wanted to bowl something different and didn’t want to miss my hat-trick. I thought a yorker will be a good option and the plan worked really well,” he revealed.
Speaking about the chat he had with skipper Rohit Sharma in the lead up to the must-win third T20I, Chahar said: “Ahead of the third T20I, Rohit bhai came and told me ‘ tujhse difficult time pe ball dalwaunga, be prepared’ (Be ready, I will ask you to bowl in difficult situations). Actually, I bowled three overs in the Powerplay in the first two T20Is and one in the death. So, he wanted to keep me for crucial situations. It feels good when your captain trusts you and I was a happy man when I delivered."
