True to his word, skipper Virat Kohli made many changes for India‘s third and final T20 against West Indies at Guyana with the series already in the bag at 2-0.
Cousin brothers Deepak and Rahul Chahar were among the three changes made by India on Tuesday with the former stealing the show with the ball.
Having made only one previous T20I appearance for India, Deepak Chahar was nearly unplayable with the new-ball at Providence on Tuesday with the seamer bagging three wickets with the new ball.
Chahar’s exceptional bowling figures of 3-4 helped India restrict Windies to 146-6 in their 20 overs after Kohli chose to bowl first under overcast conditions. Here, we take a closer look at his remarkable bowling display in the final T20I.
STATS
Overs: 3
Wickets: 3
Runs conceded: 4
Maidens: 1
Economy-rate: 1.33
30-SECOND REPORT
Chahar was handed the new ball by skipper Virat Kohli and he wasted no time in making an impact by dismissing the dangerous Sunil Narine in his very first over. The right-arm seamer was even more lethal with his second over which ended as a double-wicket maiden with the dismissals of Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer.
The 26-year-old bowled three of his overs inside the powerplay but was surprisingly not given a chance to complete his quota of overs.
Chahar made the most of swinging conditions early in the match.
GOT RIGHT
Chahar’s ability to generate movement with the new-ball has been exploited to the hilt in the IPL by Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni and he was in menacing form at Guyana on Tuesday in overcast conditions.
While his dismissal of Narine came about due to the Windies all-rounder mistiming his shot, there was no element of luck involved in his dismissals of Lewis and Hetmyer.
Getting the ball to shape in prodigiously into the left-handers, Chahar trapped both Lewis and Hetmyer plumb in front in identical fashion. He maintained that excellent shape throughout his spell in the powerplay which saw him pick up three wickets in as many overs while conceding a mere four runs.
W 0️⃣0️⃣1️⃣W 0️⃣
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) August 6, 2019
Two in an over for Deepak Chahar. He is swinging it, and swinging it well 👏https://t.co/qsJl8dVFOQ pic.twitter.com/Y7v71QTEpa
GOT WRONG
Chahar was faultless in his three-over spell with the new-ball where he gave absolutely nothing away to the Windies batsman. While he might not have erred, Kohli definitely missed a trick by not letting the seamer bowl through his quota of four overs when the conditions were in his favour.
Three overs. Four runs. Three wickets. Thought he’d finish his quota of overs today..... #DeepakChahar #WIvIND
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) August 6, 2019
VERDICT – 9/10
Making only his second T20I appearance for India, Chahar showed why he can be such a threat with the new-ball when there is some swing in the air. The Rajasthan man has developed into a fine T20 bowler over the years with CSK and he can become a real handy option for India in the run-up to the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia.
He had an expensive T20I debut against England last year where he leaked 43 runs in his four overs but his promising showing on Tuesday will come as a massive boost. He can provide some depth to what is an already formidable Indian pace bowling unit.
