Yuzvendra Chahal takes a dig at Steve Smith, says two new balls were an 'advantage' for Australia

Courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: The Virat Kohli-led Team India were left to defend a total of 164 in 21 overs against Australia in the first ODI in Chennai after the match was curtailed due to rain.

With an Australian line-up that boasts of the likes of David Warner, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell among others, any opponent would be under pressure.

But, India's leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal said that there was no pressure.

Chahal feels that playing under an attacking captain like Virat Kohli has brought the best out of him and made him more attacking.

"Wrist spinners are mostly attacking but when your captain is so attacking, you get freedom to attack more," Chahal told reporters after India beat Australia by 26 runs by Duckworth Lewis method on Sunday.

"But sometimes, we also have to take a step back and you change your plans," he added.

Australia skipper Steve Smith admitted that his team let the match slip after a great start that saw Team India reeling at 87/5 at one time.

Smith said chasing 164 with one ball, like in a proper Twenty20, as opposed to new balls from both ends could have made the chase easier.

"When you have two new balls from both ends, as you saw (during) the whole game, they found it hard. It was the same for us. You don’t have a great deal of time to make things up. Perhaps we could have been a little bit more defensive at the start and go a bit harder,” he said.

Hitting back at the Australian skipper, Chahal said, "If they would have won then they could have said that (two new balls) was a plus point because the ball came on nicely to the bat."

"Our minus point was that we had to bowl 10 overs each with a new ball. We bowled well, so whether it’s a new or old ball, it doesn’t matter. Australia had an advantage in the 20-over game, because the rule was not for a 20-over game and the extra fielder was always in the inner circle. But the plus (for India) was that the wicket was turning and the way our medium-pacers bowled at the start helped us put pressure on them from the very beginning. We never allowed them to get into the game."

Chahal, who took three wickets for 30 runs, said having left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav at the other end made things easy for him and both of them made plans according to the game situation when they bowled in tandem.

"We (both him and Kuldeep) go by the situation and since both of us are attacking bowlers, we go for wickets. Depending on the match situation, we look at things. If he bowls first, I tell him where the ball is spinning from and how we can get him out," said the 27-year-old player.

"Because we both look for wickets, there is no point in playing safe. You don't win matches that way," he said.