Indian bowler Deepak Chahar starred with the bat in the second ODI against Sri Lanka, as he guided the tourists to a series-clinching three-wicket win on Tuesday (July 21), from a position of certain defeat.
Chasing 276 on Tuesday, India was found reeling at 193-7 and looked in danger of defeat in the second ODI, but Chahar timely showed his brilliance with the bat, hitting a match-winning 69*and stitching 84* runs with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (19*) for the eighth wicket to take India over the line with five deliveries to spare.
Batting at No.8 in Colombo, the right-hander has struck 7 entertaining fours and one six to go along with his 2 wickets with the ball earning him the Player of the Match award on Tuesday.
After his match and series-winning performance, Chahar said his head coach Rahul Dravid’s belief in his batting inspired him to go all out with the bat for his team on Tuesday in Colombo.
Chahar at the post-match presentation: “No better way to win the match for the country. Rahul sir told me to play all the balls. I’ve played a few innings with India A (when Dravid was coach) and I think he has belief in me. He told me he thinks I’m good enough to be a No. 7 (but he batted at 8).”
He added, “He has belief in me. Hopefully, in the coming matches, I don’t have to bat. When we came under 50 that’s when I believed we can win. Before that, it was ball by ball. I took some risks after.”
The 28-year-old further noted about the second ODI, “It was hot out there, we did well there. Got two wickets. We managed to stop them at 270 (275 actually). It was a decent score on this wicket.”
He signed off by saying about his mindset in the middle, “Only one thing that was going on in my mind: this is the kind of innings I’ve been dreaming of. No better way to win the match for the country.”
(With PTI Inputs)
