"Worked hard when not playing; backed myself before I came to this tour" - Yuzvendra Chahal

Team India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has stated that he worked very hard on his bowling during the lockdown and also when he was not part of the playing XI due to poor form.

Chahal came into the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka under a lot of pressure, having struggled with his rhythm in international cricket over the past few months. However, he has been impressive in the ongoing series. Chahal was one of the star performers in India’s 38-run triumph in the first T20I, returning figures of 1 for 19 in his four overs.

In a post-match conference, Chahal was asked how he managed to turn things around after the disappointments in recent times. Responding to Sportskeeda's query during the post-match presser, the leggie revealed:

“Definitely, when I was not playing, I worked hard with my coach on where to bowl. I was trying to figure out why I was not able to perform in a couple of matches. So I worked on these even during the lockdown. I bowled with a single wicket (to aim at). I practiced with my friends as to where should I bowl. This type of bowling is my strength so I backed myself before I came to this tour.”

While Bhuvneshwar Kumar walked away with the Man of the Match award for his figures of 4 for 22, Chahal got the wicket of Dhananjaya de Silva (9) with a beautiful delivery. The leg-spinner flighted one nicely and got the ball to turn away enough to beat the outside edge and knock the stumps down.

#TeamIndia win the 1st #SLvIND T20I by 38 runs 💪We go 1-0 in the series 🙌 pic.twitter.com/9FfFbx2TTZ

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 25, 2021

Did not want to make too many changes to my bowling: Yuzvendra Chahal

Asked to elaborate on the exact changes he made to his bowling to find his rhythm back, Chahal explained that it was more about getting the line and length right. The 31-year-old stated that he had a word with the coaches about where he was going wrong and practiced as much as he could in his hometown.

Chahal said:

“During the lockdown, I reviewed my bowling but I did not want to make too many changes. I wanted to look at the finer points like which line I must focus more on, whether I should bowl wider or stump-to-stump. I sat with Arun sir earlier (bowling coach Bharat Arun). Here, I sought guidance from Paras sir (Paras Mhambrey) and Rahul sir (Dravid). I sat down with them and watched videos of what I was missing and why I wasn’t able to perform like before. I backed myself to perform after that.”

“I couldn’t practice much during lockdown due to COVID. However, whatever sessions I managed to get, I practiced hard. I have been playing with one cricketer since childhood in my hometown. I bowled to him and spoke to him as well. The main thing was I have to remain confident during my bowling to perform well,” he added.

4⃣/2⃣2⃣ in 3.3 overs 🔥🔥@BhuviOfficial wins the Man of the Match award for his splendid performance in the 1st #SLvIND T20I👏👏#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/DlV3aIK4um

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 25, 2021

While Chahal was impressive in India’s T20I win on Sunday, he was also the leading wicket-taker in the ODI series - five wickets in two matches at an average of 20.40.