'Not Purple Cap, I'm focusing On...,' Yuzvendra Chahal After Becoming Leading Wicket-Taker
Chahal snapped 1/36 vs GT (AP Photo)
Against Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad, Yuzvendra Chahal bagged the prized scalp of Hardik Pandya in the first innings to become the current Purple Cap holder. The Rajasthan Royals spinners snapped the Purple Cap last season as well, but his side failed to pass the final hurdle in IPL 2022.
After becoming the leading wicket-taker on Sunday, Chahal spoke his current mindset with the broadcast commentators, where he stated that Purple Cap is good but his main focus to taking Rajasthan over the line this season.
"I won the purple cap last year, and this year I'm focusing on the trophy," the leg-spinner stated after the 1st innings against Gujarat.
The tweaker further shared why the Royals played only two spinners and three seamers against the defending champions. As per Chahal, RR's big-impact all-rounder Jason Holder had to miss Sunday's clash as he has fallen ill.
"(Adam) Zampa bowled well in the previous game and had a favourable match-up against (David) Miller. Because (Jason) Holder is ill, we chose Zampa. Bowling at the death (for spinners) is difficult. It is difficult to score if the boundary size is large and there is a turn," he added.
After restricting the Titans to 177, Rajasthan have had a tough time with the bat against GT's new-ball bowlers. Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya broke RR's back in the powerplay before skipper Sanju Samson and Devdutt Padikkal started stabilising the innings, but the latter lost his breath against Rashid Khan.
At the time of writing, RR are crawling at 50-3 after 9 overs, with them needing 128 runs at a required run rate of 11.64.
 "Arjun Bhalla")
