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Rajasthan Royals (RR) leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal made a terrific start to Indian Premier League (IPL) with a four-fer against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) which was without its newly elected captain Aiden Markram. Chahal had a chance to take a fifer but was denied by Umran Malik who took a defensive approach. In a video posted by Royals on their social media, Chahal revealed what SRH pacer had told him
“Alright Yuzi bhai, tell me one thing. You took four wickets yesterday, and it would've been five if Umran bhai hadn't defended it. What would you like to tell him?” the anchor asked Chahal.
“Nothing much. I remember he told me, 'whenever I'll meet you, I'll hit you for three sixes. But he didn't... very bad,” the leg-spinner replied leaving the anchor in splits.
In the 18th over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar became Chahal's fourth victim. Malik came to bat at no.10. Chahal fighted it towards leg but Malik refrained from taking the attacking option. He did not curb his natural instinct in the penultimate over bowled by Trent Boult. The tailender hit Boult for a four and a six. In the final over, he smashed Navdeep Saini for two sixes and remained unbeaten for an eight-ball 19.
Despite Malik’s late onslaught, SRH lost their opening match by a big margin of 72 runs at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. In the absence of Markram and other South African stars, SRH struggled and managed to post 131/8 in the run chase of 204.
With a four-fer, Chahal also became the highest wicket-taker as spinner IPL history. He also equalled Lasith Malinga’s tally of wickets. Now he is the the joint second-highest wicket-taker in IPL. The 32-year-old is only behind former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo who has 183 wickets.
“Definitely the start we wanted. The way Jos and Jaiswal batted, we knew a big score will always be difficult to score. The plan was to bowl stump to stump, tossing it up is my strength. I’m not too bothered about who I’m bowling to. Definitely you’ll see a big celebration when I get a five wicket haul,” Chahal had said after he was adjudged ‘Player of the match’.
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