After ruling the international white-ball landscape for more than four years, Yuzvendra Chahal received the jolt of his life last September when he was left out of India’s squad for the T20 World Cup in the UAE. By his own admission, the axe weighed heavily on his psyche.
It didn’t take long for India to feel the full weight of the folly of leaving out the leg-spinner. Varun Chakravarthy, the ‘mystery’ spinner picked alongside Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, barely caused a ripple as India hurtled to crushing defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand, their campaign over in a jiffy.
Chetan Sharma’s panel of wise men resorted to immediate course-correction, bringing the seasoned Chahal back for the home T20Is against New Zealand in November. One World Cup might have been done and dusted, but another loomed just 12 months away; from being superfluous to India’s plans, Chahal had re-established himself as a principal weapon, not least because a new management group – captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid – was in place.
The 31-year-old has taken his time repaying the faith. In the first seven games since his comeback, he only had six wickets in 25.1 overs, his economy hovering around the eight an over mark. Then, he went to Visakhapatnam for Tuesday’s must-win third T20I against South Africa, and it was as if someone had flipped on a switch.
Chahal had meandered through the first two games in Delhi and Cuttack respectively, registering unflattering figures of one for 75 in 6.1 overs. The irresistible force of Indian Premier League 2022 was conspicuously absent, it was as if a poor imitation of the Purple Cap holder was filling in, spectacularly ineffectively. The middle-overs wickets went AWOL, he leaked runs like a tap with a non-existent washer. It was no surprise, therefore, that South Africa hunted down 212 in the first match with ridiculous ease, or that they rallied to rein in 149 in the second after being rocked by one-man army Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s heroics.
There was a flatness to Chahal’s bowling that was singularly uncharacteristic. He raced through his overs, bowling flatter and quicker and relying on the slider, bowling to contain and not conquer. That isn’t Chahal’s nature. By instinct and intent, he is an attacking bowler; he is a wicket-taker who relies on his immense craft to reduce batters to blundering wrecks. Oh, where had that Chahal gone?
Into only brief hibernation, it would appear. At the ACA-VDCA Stadium in the port city of Vizag, on a responsive surface, the Chahal of old resurfaced with telling effect. Chastened by the plastering he had received at various times this series from Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen, Chahal shed his inhibitions, rolled the clock back and produced a spell for the ages. The end result – a high-quality exhibition of exceptional leg-spin and assorted bowling, a timely reminder that two failures don’t define him, a three-wicket burst that broke the back of the South African chase, and a comprehensive 48-run victory that helped India arrest a seven-match losing streak across all three formats against the Proteas.
Chahal doesn’t fancy bowling in the Powerplay when only two men in the deep offer scant insurance against a drag-down or a long-hop. In deference to the team’s plans, however, he readily came on in the fifth over and it was immediately obvious that he had only one thing on his mind – wickets. His second delivery, a classical leg-break, spun from leg and middle, took the outside edge of the clueless Reeza Hendricks’ uncertain willow, rebounded off the webbing of Rishabh Pant’s right glove and fell just short of slip. His face lit up, putting the floodlights around the ground to shade; a cheeky, knowing grin followed, ‘watch out’ written all over it.
Whether the South Africans heeded that subtle, sinister message is unclear. If they did indeed receive the message loud and clear, then they had simply no idea what to do about it. Chahal teased and tormented and schemed and lured them to their doom, the little white orb fizzing off his hand, drifting and dipping wickedly just out of reach of flailing willows or just close enough to catch the outside edge on its way to Pant’s unforgiving gloves.
This was Chahal at his conventional, orthodox, magical best. The spring in his step was a direct offshoot of his dismissal of van der Dussen in his second over. The tall right-hander was deceived in the air, misjudging the length as he went back when he would have been better off bringing his big left foot forward. The ball spat and turned after drifting in towards leg, kissed the outside edge and nestled into Pant’s mitts. Strike one, you might say.
Nothing lifts a bowler, any bowler, more than a notation in the ‘wickets’ column. When that notation is earned rather than gifted, it sends the spirit soaring. Already in great rhythm, Chahal was an unstoppable force thereafter, weaving his magic with such dexterity and assuredness that the game was over as a contest long before it reached its denouement. Buoyed by van der Dussen’s scalp, he gobbled Dwaine Pretorius and old tormentor Klaasen for good measure on his way to a stirring burst of three for 20 and the Player of the Match award. Later, he credited bowling coach Paras Mhambrey for his assistance in arriving at an altered seam position that helped him rip his leg-breaks faster. It was just another indication that despite more than 170 international victims, Chahal’s desire to keep learning and improving is as pronounced as ever.
Tuesday reiterated how dependent India are on Chahal in the middle overs. Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar might do the damage up front, and Harshal Patel might be the master at the death, but there are few more felicitous and engaging bowlers in the middle of the innings than the pixie leggie from Haryana. When he is on song, there is a certain joie de vivre in the Indian ranks that’s hard to miss. It will be no exaggeration to state that around the tiny fingers of his right hand and the supple right wrist, India’s fortunes will revolve Down Under later this year. If he starts spinning ’em like a top, India’s world will be plenty gleeful.