As the Royal Challengers Bangalore lost their third game in a row at home, the faces of the young players in particular told the story. One of those faces was of young leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

After picking two wickets each in his last two matches, Chahal returned figures of 3 for 40. His victims were Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni. He had bowled his first two overs in the powerplay and then came back to bowl his remaining two overs in the second half of the innings.

Chahal had done well to get rid of CSK’s three big hitters but it didn’t matter to him. He forced a polite smile when congratulated on his wickets. It required the mention of MS Dhoni’s wicket – his favourite of the three – to bring genuine joy on his face.

“I enjoyed taking Dhoni bhai’s wicket,” the 24-year-old leggie told iplt20.com. “To get a batsman like him in the slog overs is huge. We know what he is capable of doing in those last few overs.”

They say one of the qualities essential in a leg-spinner is a big heart. And Chahal surely has one. The leg-spinner had a few challenges to contend with when he was thrown the new ball; firstly, the flat surface at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, short boundaries at the venue, and two fearsome strikers in Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum to bowl to. Yet, in his first over, he got the in-form New Zealand captain out.

“(Daniel) Vettori sir had told me beforehand that I will be bowling with the new ball,” he revealed. “It was our plan to stifle McCullum with spin early on.

“I was just trying to bowl accurately with a few subtle variations. I happened to bowl a slower wrong one and it got me McCullum’s wicket.”

After the early success, though, Chahal was subjected to an onslaught by Raina. In his third over – 13th of the innings – Raina creamed him for three consecutive sixes. Only one of them was a clean strike. Two were mistimed hits that flew over the short boundaries.

Chahal knew he didn’t have to beat himself up. “Two of them went from the toe of the bat and this is a small ground. So, I wasn’t worried about those sixes,” he said.

A lot has been said about a bowler’s ability to come back after being struck big blows, to concentrate on the next ball. The 24-year-old leggie put in use the lesson he had learned from coach Vettori. Immediately after the third six, he got Raina’s wicket.

“Virat (Kohli) and Vettori sir have given me a lot of confidence in that regards,” Chahal said. “Vettori sir tells us not to think about the ball you’ve been hit for. Forget about it and concentrate on the next ball. That really helps in a T20 game.

“Virat always tells me not to worry about being hit for sixes. He backs me to bowl whatever I want to bowl and keep a big heart.”
Keeping a big heart is what Chahal will do as he and RCB strive to recover from yet another loss and get their campaign on track.