India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who played a key part in India’s 26-run win against Australia in the rain-curtailed first One-day International at Chennai on Sunday, hailed captain Virat Kohli’s influence with his approach, PTI reported. “Wrist spinners are mostly attacking but when your captain is so attacking, you get freedom to attack more,” Chahal said. “But sometimes, we also have to take a step back and you change your plans,” he added.
Chahal, who finished with figures of 3/30, also revealed his plans with left-armer Kuldeep Yadav, “We go by the situation and since both of us are attacking bowlers, we go for wickets. Depending on the match situation, we look at things. If he bowls first, I tell him where the ball is spinning from and how we can get him out,” the 27-year-old said.
“Because we both look for wickets, there is no point in playing safe. You don’t win matches that way,” he said. Chahal also credited his experience with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League for dismissing Australian big-hitter Glenn Maxwell,
“I have bowled a lot to him [Maxwell] in the IPL, we had to spin him out. We could not play defensive. It was important to change our lines. If he plays a good shot, that’s fine. If he scores outside off, then he could get out,” he said. “Kuldeep’s deliveries come in. So, Mahi bhai and Virat bhai asked me to push it outside and keep checking his feet – [Bowl] outside off and mix it up,” he added. The second ODI between India and Australia will be played on September 21 at Kolkata.