“Yuzvendra Chahal is the Jos Buttler of the bowling department” - Harbhajan Singh hails RR leg-spinner for impressive show in IPL 2022

Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has praised Rajasthan Royals (RR) leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for his fantastic bowling performances in IPL 2022. Terming him the Jos Buttler of the bowling department, Harbhajan pointed out that Chahal has come up with a number of match-winning performances for the franchise this season.

Released by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) ahead of the mega auction, Chahal was picked up by RR on the bidding table for ₹6.5 crore. The 31-year-old has proved his worth by claiming 26 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 19.50 and an economy rate of 7.92. Heading into the final, he is the joint-leading wicket-taker in IPL 2022 along with Wanindu Hasaranga.

The leg-spinner will be among the players to watch out for when Rajasthan take on the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL 2022 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 29). Previewing the summit clash, Harbhajan praised Chahal and told Sportskeeda:

“Yuzvendra Chahal is the Jos Buttler of the bowling department. He has won matches with his bowling performances. In my opinion, he is the only slow bowler in the IPL who is bowling like a spinner. He is bowling slowly in the air, spinning the ball and enticing the batters to come out of the crease and go after him. Other spinners are bowling quick and are spinners for namesake. Spinners are supposed to spin the ball. That’s where you will get wickets.”

Ironically, after shining in the league stage, Chahal has gone wicketless in the two playoff games so far. He had figures of 0 for 32 in Qualifier 1 against Gujarat and 0 for 45 in Qualifier 2 versus Bangalore.

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“Any national team would want to have a bowler like him” - Harbhajan Singh on RR pacer Prasidh Krishna

Apart from Chahal, Harbhajan has also been highly impressed with pacer Prasidh Krishna’s performance in IPL 2022. The former off-spinner was the RR pacer’s teammate when the two were part of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) last season.

Describing the 26-year-old as a talented and hardworking cricketer, Harbhajan commented:

“Prasidh Krishna has been phenomenal for RR. I played with him at KKR last season and observed him closely. Any national team would want to have a bowler like him. He is tall, gets bounce, and has a very good seam position. He is quick as well and very hardworking. Great to see the way Rajasthan have handled him. Credit to (Kumar) Sangakkara and team for looking after all the players.”

Krishna has 18 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 28.38 and an economy of 8.17. He was hammered for three consecutive sixes by David Miller in Qualifier 1 but fought back by claiming 3 for 22 in Qualifier 2 against RCB.