The Indian Premier League's (IPL) highest wicket-taker Piyush Chawla was unimpressed by Yuzvendra Chahal's performance against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) as Punjab Kings (PBKS) failed to defend a target of 246. Chawla said Chahal had no one but himself to blame for the dropped chance of SRH opener Abhishek Sharma who went on to score 141. Chawla feels Chahal became too defensive and was not looking to take wickets.
"Well, he created that chance [Chahal dropped Abhishek Sharma off his own bowling] and you need at least one chance, and he created that one and he has nobody [else] to blame for that," Chawla said on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show.
"He almost reached there but apart from that… later on when both the batters [Abhishek and Travis Head] were going after him, I didn't find that Yuzvendra Chahal which we used to see a couple of years back and even till last year. He was just not trying to get the batter out. He was just trying to toss it wide and playing more of a safe game, defensive bowling. That Yuzvendra Chahal we have not seen."
Chahal is the leading wicket-taker in IPL history. However, he has managed to take two wickets from five games this season. At times, PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer did not use all of his overs in the game. The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) leg-spinner wants Chahal to bowl more googlies.
"I have not seen him bowling googlies also. If you're bowling wide outside off stump for them [left-hand batters] and it's going away from there, so you eventually get a chance to get a wicket or something like that," Chawla said.
"But he didn't bowl that, maybe because of the lack of form. If you see this season, he has bowled some 14-15 [15] overs and he's not bowled his four [overs] quite often, and he's conceding more than 11-12 runs in a season at the moment, which [makes] you feel you want to play a defensive game.
"You just want to get your four overs in and then try to pick up a wicket. But today, I felt it was the day when you have 245 runs on the board, any which way you're going for runs, so you should better try for wickets and if you pick up those couple of wickets, then you are in the game."
Jaffer feels Chahal is the 'puzzle to solve' for PBKS
Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Wasim Jaffer also stressed on the importance of bowling googlies. He feels PBKS is missing the services of Chahal whom they picked for a whopping Rs 18 crore in the mega auction.
"I think the few deliveries that he bowled when he picked up Travis Head's wicket, that is what we need to see Yuzvendra Chahal bowl more often. You're looking to spin the ball, looking to bowl googly, looking to put some revs on the ball, which I think we are missing from watching Yuzi. He is very defensive in his mindset and the pressure is pretty much visible on his face that, you know, he's off colour. But you know for Punjab to become good, he's the main puzzle that they need to solve," Jaffer said.
Chahal has conceded 56 runs from his quota of four overs. He got the wicket of Travis Head in the 13th over and broke the opening partnership. The experienced leggie will have a point to prove when PBKS go up against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 15.