( This article was uploaded before MI won against SRH in its 6th encounter)

The Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians (MI) has won only 2 matches out of 5 it has played in the ongoing IPL 2021 so far. The famed middle order comprising the likes of Hardik Pandya and Keiron Pollard is yet to fire in all cylinders. But leg spinner Rahul Chahar has been impressive and is currently the fourth highest wicket-taker with a tally of 9 wickets.

Chahar has played instrumental roles in both the wins that Mumbai Indians has notched up this season. He returned with figures of 4/27 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to help his team win by 10 runs. Against Sunrisers Hyderabad the leg spinner picked up 3 wickets conceding just 19 runs. MI won the match by 13 runs.

At the same time batsmen have been guilty of being over aggressive against Chahar which led them in making poor shot selections.

In the match against KKR, Chahar got his first wicket when opener Subhman Gill played an over ambitious shot in the very first over that the leg spinner bowled. Gill had hit a boundary in the first delivery of he over. After playing a couple of dot balls the talented KKR batsman smoked it out of the park for a maximum. He got carried away and tried to heave the next one only to find the safe hands of Keiron Pollard in the long off region.

One cannot deny the fact that Chahar showed a lot of courage and belief in his abilities to pitch the ball up despite being hit for a six in the previous delivery. Chahar then produced a magical delivery which took the outside edge of Rahul Tripathi. It was a ripper of a delivery and there was nothing much which the batsman could have done. But the leg spinner’s next victim Eoin Morgan was guilty of not getting to the pitch of the ball while giving Chahar the charge. The KKR skipper holed out in the deep.

The fourth wicket for Chahar came in the form of Nitish Rana who was well settled and batting on 57 off 46 balls. It was the last ball of the last over of Chahal and already 9 runs had come from it. Rana decided to step down the track but the wily spinner was equal to the task and beat the stylish left handed batsman for a well executed stumping by wicket-keeper Quinton De Kock.

Same mistake being repeated

While chasing a target of 150 Manish Pandey of Sunrisers Hyderabad too committed the mistake of going after Chahar. The right-handed batsman completely mistimed one while eyeing the long off boundary and perished in the hands of Pollard. It was a nicely tossed up delivery and Pandey was early into the shot.

Left-hander Virat Singh who was caught in the long off region fell for the trap set by the wily leg spinner. Abhishek Sharma who was the next victim could not middle the ball while going for a big shot. Adam Milne completed the catch.

Out of the remaining 2 wickets which Chahar has picked up so far this season Shikhar Dhawan of Delhi Capitals gave away his wicket when he tried to be a little too aggressive against Chahar.

The Capitals needed 38 runs from 32 balls after being set a target of 137. The southpaw hit the leg spinner for a six followed by a boundary in the first 2 deliveries of the 15th over. The next delivery produced no run and Dhawan went for a slog sweep in the 4th delivery only to find Krunal Pandya in the square leg region.

Punjab Kings opener Mayank Agarwal had raced off to 25 runs of 19 balls before getting dismissed while attempting an ambitious shot to Chahar.

Chahar is undoubtedly a smart operator who has got enough experience of playing in a competitive tournament like the IPL since making his debut in 2017.

He is a very important member of the bowling department of the MI franchise which has won the title a record 5 times. He has also played 3 T20Is for Team India.

A wicket-taking bowler who is doing extremely well...batsmen should not take him lightly

“ Rahul’s a wicket taking bowler...he is doing extremely well. If you look at Rahul he is still an incredibly young man, who has played a fair bit of cricket and high pressure cricket in finals and has been a key member of our team, he has a long way to go. The beauty about Rahul is that when we sit down and do analysis, he is a good listener”, Shane Bond, Mumbai Indians bowling coach has been quoted as saying in the media after the win against KKR in this year’s IPL.

The Mumbai based franchise have a formidable bowling line up with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah , Trent Boult and Krunal Pandya among others. There is a lot of depth that skipper Sharma has at his disposal. Opposition batsmen may often end up thinking that when somebody like Bumrah is going to bowl his yorkers in the death overs it will be very difficult to score freely. This may prompt them to try and go after Chahar. But they end up giving away their wickets to the spinner while trying to be a little too aggressive.

There is still a lot of cricket left to be played in this year’s IPL and a lot will depend on how teams that square off against Mumbai Indians tackle Chahar. Batsmen must not take the leg spinner too lighty as he may end up becoming the decisive factor as he has already shown on a couple of occasions.

Images Courtesy : BCCI