The numbers speak for themselves. There has been a paradigm shift in the Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s performance when we look at his numbers in the first leg of Indian Premier League(IPL) 2021 which was played between April 9 and May 2 which came to halt due to the outbreak of Covid-19 cases in the tournament and the second phase which began on September 19. There have been two contrasting halves of the tournament for Chahal.
The first half of the tournament in India saw Chahal pocket just four wickets in seven innings at an average of 47.5, going 8.3 runs per over. However, the wind changed in Chahal’s favour in the UAE leg with the leggie scalping 10 wickets from five matches at an average of 10.7, with just six runs an over. The UAE pitches have always assisted Yuzi and the numbers clearly tell the story. The leggie has 31 wickets to his name at an average of 16.5 and an economy rate of 6.8.
Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) golden boy has returned to his spectacular form in the ongoing second leg and saw the spinner claim 3 for 29 in his four overs against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Sunday to help Royal Challengers Bangalore qualify for the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoff.
Speaking post RCB’s win over Punjab Kings, Chahal revealed what he was missing in the first leg of the tournament.
“I just believe in myself. That’s what I was missing in the first half. I have just backed my strength and just varied my line today”, the 31 year-old said.
A dip in his form resulted in the selectors dropping him from India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in UAE. Meanwhile, former Indian all-rounder Ajay Jadeja believes that Chahal can now ask captain Virat Kohli about his snub from the T20 World Cup squad post his brilliant run in the UAE leg.
