IPL 2021: "The main reason why the match went till the last over was because of Chahal" - Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar praised Yuzvendra Chahal's brilliant performance with the ball last night against the Kolkata Knight Riders. He felt that the leg spinner's bowling was the reason why the match went till the last over.
The Eoin Morgan-led side beat the RCB by four wickets to enter into Qualifier 2 of the 2021 IPL. After winning the toss, Kohli preferred to defend the total in the second innings. KKR kept picking up wickets at regular intervals and restricted Kohli's men to just 138 in the first innings.
During the chase, KKR batters started off well and had a decent powerplay. Eventually, courtesy of the all-important cameo by Sunil Narine, KKR sailed through in Sharjah.
However, there was one guy who made the chase difficult for the KKR batters and proved pivotal in keeping RCB in contention to win. Yuzvendra Chahal's figure of 4-0-16-2 was excellent for his side. The 31-year old leggie dismissed two in-form batters in Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana at crucial moments in the game. However, all his efforts went in vain as he didn't get enough support from his side's fourth or fifth bowlers.
While speaking with ESPNcricinfo, Sanjay Manjrekar commended Chahal's efforts and said that the opposition batters were only looking to play him safely. He said:
"If the target was higher, KKR batters would've taken even more chances against Chahal. This shows how well he's performing. It seemed like no one was trying to take him on. KKR team management would've asked the batters to play safe against Chahal. And the main reason why this match went to the last over was because of him."
"Rahul Tripathi went early against Chahal and Nitish Rana, who I think has the best shot-making form in his entire squad, went on to hit him and get caught on the boundary. So, these 2 big wickets were very crucial for RCB."
Since the resumption of the IPL in the UAE, the Haryana-born spinner has taken 13 wickets in eight matches for his team. He showed his true class in the second half of the tournament.
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Sanjay Manjrekar had his say on Chahal's chances of making it into the Indian team
The former cricketer-turned commentator also emphasized upon Chahal's chances of getting into the Indian side in the white-ball set-up.
The leg-spinner was surprisingly left out of the Indian squad for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021. However, his resurgence in the UAE during the IPL was phenomenal. He proved to his critics that he's best to his best as far as T20 cricket is concerned.
Manjrekar praised Chahal's bowling this season but also indicated that he will need to prove himself while playing overseas.
"Yes he has looked good. But on these UAE pitches, almost every bowler has looked good. Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Bishnoi, Arshdeep and many others. So Yuzi Chahal has also done excellently well, it seems like he's performing to prove himself. But if this white-ball cricket is headed to India or somewhere overseas, then his performances should be evaluated because his recent overseas performances made him vulnerable.", said Manjrekar.
It remains to be seen whether the leg-spinner will get included in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup after his amazing bowling display in the UAE. The last date for BCCI selectors to make any changes to the 15-man squad is October 15.