Yuzvendra Chahal's 3 costliest spells in T20Is
The ajar door on Yuzvendra Chahal's foreseeable future in T20Is seemed to have been forced shut after he conceded 51 runs against West Indies in the fifth T20I in Florida. India lost by eight wickets and the series by a 3-2 margin.
He picked up five wickets in the T20Is but went at the third-worst economy rate of 9.06 overall. In almost every game, he either failed to pick wickets like he used to, or control the run rate that he also used to when not being able to do the former.
And the struggles have been the same throughout 2023. This was the sixth time he went for 50 or more runs in a T20 innings, including the IPL and domestic cricket.
It didn't happen at all in 2021 and 2022 but has already happened twice in 2023. This was also his joint third-worst spell in the shortest format.
Here's a look at his three most expensive ones:
#3 51 runs vs Australia, 2020
Chahal has gone for 51 runs twice in his career before Sunday. One was in the IPL in 2015, the other was against Australia in 2020 in Sydney. The latter game was the second T20I of a three-match series played weeks before the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus and the famous Border Gavaskar Trophy.
That day, on a flat Sydney Cricket Ground track, he initially came under the crosshairs of Glenn Maxwell, who hit for a couple of delightful shots over covers and square leg. He was a bit too short in his next two overs, and Steve Smith and Moises Henriques cleared the boundary all around the ground with ease.
Smith had a few mistimed shots but none went to hand until Chahal's second last ball of the match where Hardik Pandya took a nice juggling catch at long-off.
#2 52 runs vs Sri Lanka in 2017
The second T20I of a typical India-Sri Lanka series hosted by the bigger neighbor was a match of a few special feats. Rohit Sharma scored the joint-fastest T20I century off just 35 balls and MS Dhoni came to bat at number three. India scored 261 in the first innings, to date their best performance in a T20I.
Chahal came to bowl only in the 10th over of the second inning when Sri Lanka's second-wicket partnership of Upul Tharanga and Kusal Perera was going belligerent from both ends. They hit him for four sixes and two fours in three overs.
But Chahal also got Tharanga out in the third and then picked three more wickets in an economical last over to wrap up Sri Lanka's innings.
This is what India misses the most currently. Runs? Yes. Wickets? Also yes.
#1 64 runs vs South Africa in 2018
By far the leg-spinner's worst performance came against South Africa in 2018 at Centurion. India were defending 189 on a flat wicket with a bit of bounce and Heinrich Klaasen gave yet another early glimpse into his dangerous skill against spin, along with JP Duminy, who wasn't much behind.
Klassen hit Chahal for four sixes and a four in his first three overs, while Duminy chipped in with another six. Farhaan Behardien then took a final six in Chahal's last over to take his figures past 60. The leg-spinner looked completely out of sorts on the day, struggling to get any control or confidence behind the ball.
His 0/64 were and still are the most expensive figures recorded by an Indian bowler in T20Is.