India have been blessed to have produced quality players over the years. The cricket-mad nation has seen greats of the game playing for their team. However, with the rising pool of players, the competition within the team has become fierce. It has become hard to survive for players even if they become complacent in one game. Yuzvendra Chahal is the latest example who seems to have lost a grip on his place in the playing XI.
Chahal, who was once considered India’s first spin-bowling option in white-ball cricket, now has to sit out in most of the games. Kuldeep Yadav is being preferred in the role rather. Washington Sundar and Axar Patel are also slowly cementing their places in the Indian white-ball teams. Both Sundar and Axar have a second dimension to their game and thus enjoy an edge over Chahal.
Referring to the same, former India selector Sunil Joshi has lashed out at the leg-spinner saying he should have not taken a back seat. But with the damage already done, Joshi ahs suggested Chahal goes to domestic cricket and hones his skills.
"Over a period any bowler will go through that phase. Chahal is in that phase. Someone like Chahal, who is not able to get game time in the middle, probably should request the team management to go and play domestic cricket. Match time is very important for him to get back into form. That should be the ideal preparation for Chahal," Joshi told ESPNCricinfo.
"He was an attacking spinner. Everyone gets a little cushioning - okay, theek hai, I've done well now, let me relax a bit. Suddenly by the time you realise that, the pressure is on you."
Joshi also shared a few bowling tips for Chahal. The former BCCI selector said that the leggie should work on his follow-through as well as on his googlies. "He can really look to finish his follow-through because at times he just pushes the ball [without imparting spin]. When you slow your arm, automatically there are less revolutions on the ball and it's much easier for a batsman to pick him up,” opined Joshi.
"Ideally, every ball should be on the fourth-stump line. Most of the googlies he bowls are from the middle stump. You can't bowl a googly from the middle stump. Where did Anil [Kumble] bowl his googlies from? Fifth stump. That is where you drag a batsman to get through the bat-pad gap. You have seen how many times Virat Kohli get out to a legspinner in the last so many IPLs? Did he get out [to a googly] from a middle-stump line? No. Fifth-stump line," he added.
