More googlies I bowl, better my leg break will be: Chahal acts on Rohit’s advice

PTI

Ahmedabad, February 7

Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who snared four wickets in the first ODI against the West Indies here, has credited new white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma for the performance, saying the star batter made him realise that the more googlies he bowled, the more effective his leg-breaks would become.

India won the match by six wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series here.

“We had spoken before the game. The thing which you said before the game, the thing I missed in South Africa, I didn’t bowl more googlies, so it was there in my mind,” Chahal told Rohit in an interview aired on ‘bcci.tv’.

“The hard-hitters decide that if the ball is in his area, he will go for the shot…so when you said, ‘the more googlies you bowl, your leg-spin will be more effective’. I bowled that to you in the nets and I realised it,” the 31-year-old explained.

According to Chahal, when he was not in the national team, he worked on changing his bowling angles.

“I changed my angles, there are slow wickets here. When I wasn’t there in the team, I pondered on what improvements can be made.

“I saw other bowlers, who became side-arm to bowl on these wickets. I noticed when I bowl in the nets, that the ball moves faster and you need more wrist,” he elaborated.

The Haryana player, who took his 100th ODI wicket here on Sunday by dismissing Nicholas Pooran, said that it was a good feeling to get to the milestone.

“It is a good feeling (to take 100 ODI wickets). There have been ups and downs in my five-year career but it is a good feeling that you take 100 wickets in any format, which is a big thing.

“I had never thought that it would happen so soon. I continued what I kept doing,” Chahal signed off.