India’s leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal praised Naman Dhir for bowling a smart spell in the first T20I against the West Indies at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Tuesday. The Punjab off-spinner took a leaf from Chahal’s book as he pushed the the ball wide after he was hit for a six by Romario Shepherd. The WI batter had to reach for the ball and could only manage a top edge.
Dhir returned with impressive bowling figures of 3-31 in his quota of four overs while making his T20I debut. The all-rounder from Punjab accounted for in-form West Indies captain Shai Hope, Romario Shepherd, and Shamar Springer.
“Today’s spell showed how smart he is. You can figure out whether a bowler has that thing or not when he releases the ball. He bowled slow, the amount of revolutions he gave, got the ball to grip and turn, and the way he changed his line,” Chahal said on Star Sports.
Chahal praised Dhir for outfoxing hard-hitter Romario Shepherd.
“He bowled on the legs, and when Shepherd hit a six, he knew that he had so much power that he can hit a six even if he mistimes the ball, so he kept the ball far. It shows how clever he is, how much bowling talent he has, and how his brain works,” Chahal observed.
Chahal, who recently announced his first-class retirement, said Dhir was guile in varying his pace and thought like a batter when he bowled.
“He is a batter. When he bats, he knows how the bowler plays with the batter. So he showed that cleverness, especially in the way he varied his pace,” he said.
“In T20s, we say that if you keep bowling at the same pace, it becomes easy for the batter, especially on such wickets. He bowled at 84, 87, and 92. It shows how far up he can go,” Chahal observed.
India will next take on the West Indies in the second T20I on Friday.
