Yuzvendra Chahal has dominated against Kieron Pollard in T20 Internationals over the years.
Vulnerable at the beginning
Pollard might be one of the most formidable hitters in white ball cricket but like every player he also has his weaknesses.
Particularly when new to the crease, Pollard is vulnerable to the googly as he does not seem to pick it up from the hand and hangs back to read it off the surface. For a player of his quality, he is like a cat on a hot tin roof on the first few balls he faces and you need a quality spinner to exploit this weakness.
Fittingly, Yuzvendra Chahal has done it successfully in the past, having dismissed him on 5 occasions while giving away runs at 15.60 per wicket which is more than acceptable.
Pollard vs Chahal in all T20Is 78 runs FIve dismissals Avg 15.60 SR 150
Hitting the bulls' eye In the ODI series, which preceded the home T20Is in 2022, Yuzvendra Chahal hit the mark in the first ODI itself as he finished with figures of 4 for 49 and bagged the player of the match award.
"Felt good. Washi struck twice in an over so we knew pressure was on them. My job was to sustain that pressure. Got the feeling watching Washi bowl that the ball was gripping. Had a chat with Rohit, Virat, they said the pace is important. My thought was that if it's turning at pace, keep doing it. Threw in a slower one here and there as a variation. I looked back at the footage from the South Africa series to see where I can improve," Chahal said after receiving the award.
Golden duck
In that match as well, it was Chahal who led to the downfall of West Indies captain Kieron Pollard as he slipped one through the big bat and pad gap on the very first ball that Pollard faced to turn the match in India's favour.
However, as we have seen several times in the Indian Premier League, once Pollard gets set, it does not matter whether it is a spinner or a pacer bowling to him, once he connects there is only one place the ball is going and that is into the stands.
But against bowlers who can spin the ball both ways, Pollard is left with no option but to employ the sweep more often than not which leaves him vulnerable to bowled and leg before wicket dismissals.
