India seamer Deepak Chahar had a memorable night with the ball on Sunday as he went on to pick six wickets for seven runs to help his side pick up a 30-run win in the 3rd T20I against Bangladesh in Nagpur. The right-armer also picked a hat-trick as the hosts bundled out Bangladesh for 144 in 175-run chase. The bowler was the guest in this week’s ‘Chahal’s TV’, where he credited Chennai Super Kings for his growth as a bowler in tough conditions.
“Playing in Chennai, I have now realised how to counter dew and sweat. How to keep my hands clean. At times, rub dry soil in your hands and then bowl (so that hands don’t get slippery),” the 27-year-old Rajasthan seamer told Yuzvendra Chahal in the video uploaded by BCCI on their website.
The leg-spinner further asked Chahar regarding his strategy on a surface where there was not much swing on the offer for the bowlers. In his reply, the speedster said that he was trying to make the batsmen play towards the longer side boundaries. “Since the side boundaries (at VCA Stadium) were big and that was the plan that we will have to force the batsman to play shots on the sides,” he said.
“I also wanted to vary the pace as the ball was getting wet because of the dew and it was difficult to grip,” he further added.
Describing his performance as a “dream”, the fast bowler said: “Came to know in the end that I got a hat-trick since I got the first wicket off the last ball of previous over. Even if you sit back at home and dream, you will not think that in four overs, you will get six wickets for 7 runs.”
He further credited stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma for using him a bit differently in the middle overs instead of exhausting his quota upfront. “I’ve just been wanting to work hard. It’s all God’s help that I’m here. Today the plan was to bowl upfront with the new ball. I was told I’ll be bowling the crucial overs. Happy the team management gave me that responsibility,” he said.
