IPL 2020: Yuzvendra Chahal, RCB’s unsung hero does it again

When you talk about the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), you talk about Virat Kohli, you talk about AB de Villiers, you talk about the big batting prowess they possess, you talk about their big star-studded buys at the auction. You also talk about the bowling but it is the for the wrong reasons. 

However, what we don’t talk about is Yuzvendra Chahal. The Indian leg-spinner constantly flies under the radar and keeps doing his job.

Also Read: Team management doesn’t put any pressure on us: Yuzvendra Chahal

Irrespective of RCB’s performances, Chahal invariably does well and it’s often the case that he is carrying the bowling line-up on his shoulders. He simply goes about his business quietly without too much fuss.

But that wasn’t the case in RCB’s opening game of the IPL 2020 season. It was Chahal all the way with the ball and it was him who changed the game on its head.

4-0-18-3. These were his figures.

Chahal just bowled beautifully and right from the outset he looked like the bowler who could give RCB a wicket any time.

And the way he bowled to the well-set duo of Jonny Bairstow and Manish Pandey was simply outstanding. He kept pegging away with consistent lines and lengths and finally got reward towards the end of his spell and it was his last over that turned the game for RCB.

Also Read: IPL 2020: Yuzvendra Chahal and other players who can win the Purple Cap in UAE

When Chahal came on to bowl in the 8^th over of the SRH innings, Pandey was already batting on 27 off 22 and Bairstow was on 20 off 14. Both of them were hitting the ball well. But Chahal cut out the scoring opportunities. Also, Chahal loves bowling to the right-handers and with Warner gone and Abhishek Sharma the only other left-hander in the SRH line-up, the premier RCB spinner just continued his success against the right-handers in the middle-overs.

Manish Pandey RHB
Jonny Bairstow RHB
Vijay Shankar RHB#SRHvsRCB #IPL2020 https://t.co/LRNb8AqwL9

— Stat Doctor (@stat_doctor) September 21, 2020

Add to that, his match-up against the Pandey-Bairstow duo and the way Virat Kohli used him was excellent. Both Pandey and Bairstow haven’t had a lot of success against Chahal in the past in the IPL. Before this game, the wily leg-spinner had dismissed the England opener once in 2019 while Pandey had two dismissals against Chahal in the IPL. His strike against him was under below 100 as well.

Yuzvendra Chahal has a great IPL record against Pandey and Bairstow

Chahal got the better of the two once again in this game as well. Chahal conceded just 12 runs to the Pandey-Bairstow duo from 20 deliveries (Bairstow faced 12 while Pandey played 8) in his spell. Also, not only did he contain them, he scalped both the set batsmen.

He kept bowling stump-to-stump and just didn’t give any width to both these batsmen to free their arms. He first had Pandey chipping one straight to long-off on the last ball of the third over to open the door for RCB as SRH were cruising at that stage.

And in his last over, Chahal just turned the game. Bairstow could’ve opted to play Chahal out given the threat he possessed but the Englishman wanted to take the game head-on and was cleaned up. Vijay Shankar followed the opener as Chahal bowled a splendid wrong’un to deceive the Tamil Nadu all-rounder. Chasing 163, SRH were 121/2 at the start of the 15th over and it went to 121/4 in the space of three balls.

It was a spell that went on to win RCB the game and Chahal won just his second Man of the Match award in his IPL career. In fact, this is Chahal’s seventh season with RCB. No other bowler in the history of the IPL has been around or in the RCB side for as many seasons or has played as many games as Chahal. That simply shows the worth of the 30-year-old leggie.

Moreover, since he made his debut for RCB, only Bhuvneshwar Kumar has picked up more wickets (109) than Chahal’s 103 in this period. Chahal is the only spinner in the top five wicket-takers since 2014 and no one is even close. And the fact that he bowls a majority of his overs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru makes this stat even better.

Yuzvendra Chahal is the second highest wicket-taker in the IPL since 2014

Life has come a full circle for Chahal and RCB. It was back in 2014 that he made his debut for the Bengaluru franchise in the UAE and here he is again now, coming back as a much better cricketer and one of the top leg-spinners of world cricket. And despite all of that, Chahal rarely gets a mention.

Forget RCB, when you talk T20 cricket, Chahal rarely gets a mention. He isn’t a mystery spinner, he isn’t as quick as someone like Rashid Khan or other modern-day leg-spinners, he doesn’t turn the ball as much as some of the other spinners. Yet, he finds a way to succeed and it’s the accuracy and the subtle variations that makes him tick.

Chahal has started well and has bowled RCB to a rare win in the first game of an IPL season. There is no doubt that Kohli, de Villiers, Morris and the others will be crucial and the limelight will be firmly on them. Chahal has been the unsung hero for years now. But now he has ensured that the limelight tilts towards him as well and he cannot be counted out at all.