Since his arrival in 2014, Yuzvendra Chahal has gone on to become a vital cog in the Royal Challengers Bangalore set-up. Like the talismanic batting duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, the wily leg-spinner is an automatic pick for any game if fit and available.
Chahal is the bowler that skipper Kohli banks on largely, be it restricting runs during the Power Plays or picking up wickets in the middle overs. Despite playing a majority of the games at a batting-friendly Chinnaswamy Stadium and without getting much support from the other end, the wily Haryanvi has consistently delivered the goods, 121 wickets in 98 games a testament to his remarkable skills. His brilliant performances even helped him become a vital part of the Indian team’s limited-overs set-up since his international debut in June 2016.
Things, however, are very different for the 30-year-old now as he heads into this season’s IPL. His form with the Indian team since the start of 2020 has dipped alarmingly, his economy breaching 9 runs per over (9 games) for the first time in his career last year. It has soared to 9.91 in three games against England this year. The soaring economy rate is a direct result of a lack of wickets, which saw him being benched for the ODI series versus England. He did bag 21 wickets for RCB last season but since then, he has struggled.
RCB’s most successful bowler entering an IPL on the back of a horror run must be a matter of grave concern, considering how bad the team has fared in the bowling department historically. Head coach Simon Katich, speaking to journalists on Tuesday, said that he was not perturbed by Chahal’s dip and was confident about the leggie bouncing back.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a concern,” said Katich during a virtual interaction from the team’s base in Chennai. “The way we saw Chahal last year, we tried to give him a role where he would be the attacking weapon for us. In the previous seasons, he was taking wickets but he also was playing a big role in the Power Plays. We tried to get him into a role last year where our quicks did a lot of the work in the Power Play.
“Chahal had a great season last year with the wickets, he predominantly bowled in the middle. What’s happened recently, we know England are a very good team, he had a tough time against them. We also know he is class and experienced. In IPL, his record is almost second to none. He’s a done a great job for RCB. We start in Chennai, which historically does suit the spinners. So hopefully, he’ll get assistance and he’ll build on that for the tournament. From what we have seen so far in terms of preparation, he’s in a really good space. He bowled beautifully in our first practice game on Saturday, took some wickets, got the ball spinning and got all his variations working. We know he’s a match-winner for us.”
One of RCB’s long-standing problems has been death bowling and, on paper, that area looks weak again. Katich allayed any such concerns. "Death bowling is a concern with RCB because of the history of playing at the Chinnaswamy because it’s a hard ground to bowl on," he said. "We are not playing here this season. Same questions were asked of us last year in the UAE and you look at our group last year, when you look at the stats, we were one of the better bowling units in the competition, probably just behind Mumbai (Indians) and DC (Delhi Capitals). We got to the play-offs for the first time in four years. I think externally, there’s always a bit of negativity around our bowling line-up but internally, we are confident."