IND vs SL 2021: "Batters were going after him and not miss-hitting" - Sanjay Manjrekar says Yuzvendra Chahal 'could have been better' in 1st ODI 

Sanjay Manjrekar feels Yuzvendra Chahal, despite picking up two wickets in the first India-Sri Lanka ODI, left a lot to desire with his bowling. Manjrekar said the leg-spinner lacked his usual 'fizz' and 'venom' on Sunday which made it easier for the opposition batsman to take him on.

Yuzvendra Chahal, making a comeback after almost eight months, got India their first breakthrough in the ninth over and came back to get the crucial wicket of Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka in the last powerplay. Both batsmen were deceived in flight and got out trying to force the pace against the leggie.

"Kuldeep (Yadav) and Krunal (Pandya) had an excellent game but I think Chahal might have thought 'could have been better'. I guess the venom, I would like to see the ball fizzing more, there were occasions when batters were going after him and not miss-hitting many. There was nothing happening off the pitch. I would have like the batsmen missing the ball while attempting to play the big shots because of the turn and the bounce," Sanjay Manjrekar said during the mid-innings break on Sony Networks.

Yuzvendra Chahal gave away 52 runs from his quota of ten overs, the second most economical figure in the innings after Krunal Pandya. Wickets from all Indian bowlers except Bhuvneshwar Kumar made sure that Sri Lanka could only put up a below-par total of 262 in the first essay.

India paid a heavy price for dismantling Kuldeep-Chahal combination: Sanjay Manjrekar

Fun guaranteed when "Kul-Cha" are in one frame 😁 🎥Who is excited to watch this duo in action in the #SLvIND series? #TeamIndia 🇮🇳@imkuldeep18 | @yuzi_chahal pic.twitter.com/pkpRPn9JfV

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 15, 2021

Sanjay Manjrekar further discussed the combination of 'wicket-taker' Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. He said India paid a 'heavy price' of decoupling the duo after the 2019 World Cup match against England.

"If you compare Kuldeep with Krunal Pandya, you will see he is the guy who tosses the ball up. Krunal Pandya is 'stop the runs' bowler while Kuldeep is a wicket-taker, he always has been. Amazing how India discarded him after that game against England and it wasn't like they were playing England in the next match. There would have been another opposition, 'Kulcha' would have been fantastic. It's just that England was brilliant on that day. India just dismantled their winning combination and after that they paid a heavy price for it," Sanjay Manjrekar added.

At the time of writing, India are well on course to chase down the first innings total. Shikhar Dhawan has led from the front with a brilliant half-century and would love to carry his bat on his captaincy debut.

5⃣0⃣ for captain @SDhawan25! 👍 👍#TeamIndia move to 177/2 after 25 overs in the chase. #SLvIND Follow the match 👉 https://t.co/rf0sHqdzSK pic.twitter.com/hAjwjzjGWa

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 18, 2021