IPL 2021: RCB’s Yuzvendra Chahal oozing with confidence after gaining self-belief in the UAE leg

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has turned his fortunes around in the 2021 Indian Premier League after the tournament had to be shifted to the UAE. In the second-half of the ongoing IPL, the tweaker has picked up 10 wickets from five matches with two three-wicket hauls. In fact, he hasn’t gone wicketless in any of the games on the slow and low pitches.

On Sunday, Chahal was at his best as he picked up three wickets and guided RCB to a six-run win against Punjab Kings at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. He picked up the wickets of Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran and Sarfaraz Khan to push PBKS onto the backfoot.

In India, Chahal got four wickets from seven games and looked out of sorts. However, the 31-year-old has regained self-belief and a result, his numbers have shown a massive improvement.

“I just believe in myself. That’s what I was missing in the first half. I have just backed my strength and just varied my line today,” Chahal was quoted as saying after the match.

It’s always challenging to bowl to Mayank Agarwal, says Yuzvendra Chahal 

On Sunday, RCB racked up the highest score in Sharjah this season, setting Punjab a target of 165 to win. Chahal revealed how skipper Virat Kohli asked him to build pressure on the PBKS batters by bowling dot balls.

“On this wicket, 160 is a very good score. We knew if we got early wickets, we could get them. In the middle overs, Virat-bhai (Kohli) told me not to go for wickets. He told me to bowl dot balls,” he stated.

RCB were in strife when Agarwal, who made a 42-ball 57, was in the middle. But Chahal pinned him in the 16th over to bring the Challengers back into the game. Chahal talked about his plans and what he wanted the batter to do.

“He’s [Mayank Agarwal] a great batsman, and it’s always challenging to bowl to him. I didn’t want to give him loose balls. I wanted him to hit boundaries if he could. We had good momentum. After the first two games, we have bounced back well. Batting, bowling and fielding. We are just focused on taking it game by game,” Chahal added.