Indian captain Virat Kohli sprung a surprise at the toss of the final ODI against Australia when he revealed that he had made three changes to the side that won the second ODI in Adelaide. Vijay Shankar was handed an ODI debut, Kedar Jadhav replaced Ambati Rayudu, and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was brought into the XI in place of Kuldeep Yadav. That last change was a surprise because Kuldeep was the highest-ranked bowler available for selection in the Indian squad, and yet he was benched.
But Chahal, playing his first ODI of the series, did not disappoint his captain, as he single-handedly ran through the hosts’ middle-order, returning figures of 10-0-42-6 – the best-ever figures in an ODI played Down Under.
Chahal was only brought on as the sixth bowler – he was only thrown the ball until 23 overs had been bowled in the innings and until after the all-rounder Kedar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja had rolled their arm over. But the leg-spinner struck with his second delivery when he outsmarted a well-set Shaun Marsh and had him stumped down the leg side. Three balls later, he accounted for the other well-set batsman – Usman Khawaja – holding on to a return catch.
At the end of his first over, Chahal had figures of 1-0-2-2.
The afternoon only got better for the 28-year old; he struck for a third time in his fourth over, this time tossing one up, the ball taking the outside edge of Marcus Stoinis’ bat and landing safely into Rohit Sharma’s hands.
Given a break after a six-over first spell, Chahal was brought back into the attack in the 42nd over, and he added three more scalps to his kitty – this time dismissing Jhye Richardson, Peter Handscomb and Adam Zampa.
It isn’t too often that bowlers collect six wickets in an ODI; it has only been done 87 times in 4,079 ODIs. In the history of Indian cricket, such a feat has only been accomplished on ten occasions. Chahal’s 6-42 were the fourth best bowling figures by an Indian spinner in ODIs.
Notes for Indian Team Management
Just like Jasprit Bumrah, Chahal is a wicket-taker. In recent years, they have given the Indian captain control over proceedings in the field; if Bumrah has been good with the new ball and at the death, Chahal has consistently provided breakthroughs against the middle-order.
Not too long ago, Chahal was India’s first-choice spinner. Since the emergence and rapid ascent of Kuldeep, the Indian management has looked at the left-arm wrist spinner as their preferred spinner. Chahal missed the last two ODIs against the Windies at home last year (at Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram), and warmed the benches in the first two ODIs of this series.
Spinners, particularly leg-spinners who are the wicket-taking kind, are ‘confidence’ bowlers, and it is therefore important that the team management find means to safeguard Chahal’s interests and give him enough game time.
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