Chahal Slams Flat Pitches: “Install a Bowling Machine” If Bowlers Get No Help

Team India’s 10-match winning streak came to an end as the West Indies, led by captain Shai Hope’s unbeaten century, chased down a target of 250 to level the five-match T20I series 1-1 in Ranchi. Speaking on JioStar’s ‘Haier Cricket Live’, JioStar experts Sunil Gavaskar, Varun Aaron, Aakash Chopra and Yuzvendra Chahal discussed India’s bowling plans under pressure, the lack of assistance for bowlers and Mayank Yadav’s opening spell.

"The way Shai Hope and Rutherford played was brilliant. It was almost a Batman-and-Robin kind of partnership: Shai Hope held guard, kept things steady at one end, and Rutherford just kept going. They batted brilliantly, but the Indian bowlers, after that first four or five overs, just completely forgot about bowling length. I think they pressed the panic button way too early. They went to their yorkers, slower balls, bouncers, wide bouncers and wide slower balls way too early. Mayank Yadav got three wickets. Two of those three wickets were off proper length. That's exactly what Arshdeep should have done, especially when Rovman Powell was batting at the start and was looking very shaky. They gave him a few full tosses, trying to bowl yorkers. He got a few boundaries off them, and then they kept building the innings. Since they had those two early wickets from Mayank Yadav, India could have stuck to their lengths a little longer, but I just think they pressed that panic button way too early."

"Definitely! I would have gone with either Arshdeep or Mayank. Yes, Arshdeep went for plenty in his final over, but Mayank had struck the early blows. Of the wickets that had fallen, he had taken three. His economy rate was about 12 an over, and at that stage, the West Indies needed more than that. So, if he had taken a wicket, and sometimes when the game is going in your favour, who knows, you would have got a wicket even if it had not been off a great delivery. And once you get a wicket, suddenly, the opposition is on the back foot. A new batter has to come in. So, maybe that could have been tried. For me, I think giving Shivam Dube the ball in that ninth over was not exactly what was required at that stage. When the batters were still trying to get their eye in, maybe Kuldeep coming in would have been a better idea."

"In the last match, he went for a few runs. Also, you're obviously nervous when making a comeback. This is top-flight cricket, and you understand that you are playing on good batting wickets in India and coming back after a lay-off. So, getting that wicket early, although he had conceded a boundary before that, dismissing Kamil Pooran was a good start. The next one, to dismiss Shimron Hetmyer, was an absolute peach. It tells you what pace can do, how it can cramp you and how it can slightly embarrass you. And the last one, again, was nearly 150 clicks. It was the final over of the powerplay, which usually goes for runs, so getting another wicket was a huge validation for himself because, after rehab, that thing always stays in the back of your mind: 'Will I get injured again?' That memory of pain stays with you until it doesn't. Because you live alone for six to eight months, it's like you're living in a cave. Everyone else is playing, and you're just watching and waiting for your turn. So, what he did in this game, more than the wickets, was the validation that he can get back to bowling at that high pace."

"On such wickets, there's nothing for the bowlers. When the ball gets old, there's dew, the ball comes nicely onto the bat, and the grounds are getting smaller. We've seen this in the IPL as well, with 260 being chased in 19 overs. In this game too, 250 got chased down easily in 18.3 overs. So, what should bowlers do? What is the use of their skill? I feel for them, because I am a bowler too and when I bowl in the IPL, on small grounds with flat wickets, you have an Impact Player as well. Earlier, when the Impact Player rule was not there, you used to see 50 runs in six overs, and 170-180 was a fighting total. But these days, 70-80 runs are scored in the first six overs, and the game is done there itself. So, either you have to have something for the bowlers in the wicket, or else just install a bowling machine."