22 July,2021 07:07 AM IST | Colombo | PTI
Deepak Chahar en route his 69 not out against Sri Lanka at Colombo on Tuesday. Pic/AFP
India pacer Deepak Chahar, who was an unexpected hero with the bat in the second ODI against Sri Lanka, on Tuesday said coach Rahul Dravid's belief in his batting inspired him to produce a match-winning knock.
Chahar came ahead of the more accomplished Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the batting order after India lost their six wickets for 160 runs while chasing 276. In the end, they both forged an unbeaten 84-run stand to script a three-wicket win.
"No better way to win the match for the country. Rahul sir told me to play all the balls. I've played a few innings with India âA' [when Dravid was coach] and I think he has belief in me. He told me he thinks that I'm good enough to be a No. 7 [he batted at 8]. He has belief in me. When we came under 50 that's when I believed that we could win. Before that it was ball by ball. I took some risks later," said Chahar.
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Prior to this game, his highest score in international cricket was 12. "Only one thing that was going on in my mind: this is the kind of innings I've been dreaming of," he said, talking about his mindset in the middle.
India had romped to victory in the first ODI but it took a lot more effort on Tuesday. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan said it was a good lesson for the youngsters in the team. "We were confident of chasing it, but we didn't start well. It was a good lesson for them. From these sort of matches, we're going to learn a lot as a team and they'll learn how to handle games like these."
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