Deepak Chahar, who plays in the Indian side primarily for his bowling abilities, won India the second game and with that the series against Sri Lanka with an impressive performance with the bat.
After playing the match-winning innings, Chahar recalled the words of appreciation and belief he had from Rahul Dravid, who is there in Sri Lanka as coach of the side. Chahar recalled his days while playing for India A that under the watchful eyes of Dravid and said that he always backed him to bat at number seven position.
“Rahul sir told me to play all the balls. I've played a few innings with India A and I think he has belief in me. He told me he thinks I'm good enough to be a No. 7. He has belief in me. Hopefully, in the coming matches, I don't have to bat. When we came under 50 is when I believed we can win. Before that, it was ball by ball. I took some risks after,” Chahar said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Chahar walked out to bat when India needed more than 100 runs and stitched valuable partnerships with Krunal Pandya, and then Bhuvneshwar Kumar to help India take unassailable lead in the series.