Deepak Chahar stars as India beat Sri Lanka in 2nd ODI; Netizens compare him to MS Dhoni

After getting off to a rocky start, Team India on Tuesday clinched the ODI series against Sri Lanka and defeated the home country in a mammoth run-chase of 276. The series-sealing win saw the emergence of a new hero for team India- tail-ender and seam bowler Deepak Chahar who redeemed the series for India with his powerful knock 69 runs. 

Deepak Chahar's heroics save the day

Chasing a target of 276, India was 7 down at 193 after it lost most of its top and middle order quickly during the match. Power openers Prithvi Shaw and Ishan Kishan were bowled out on 13, and 1 after which the Sri Lankan bowling line-up led by Wanindu Hasaranga sent back Shikhar Dhawan, and Krunal Pandya (35), and others to the Pavillion. A dangerous-looking Manish Pandey (37) was dismissed quickly while SuryakumarYadav helped salvage India's inning with 53 runs in 44 balls with the help of 6 boundaries.

However, when hopes for India seemed slim after the fall of the top and middle order, Chahar's resolve under pressure along with his partnership with vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped turn the match around for India. For a player whose highest score before this game had been 12, Deepak Chahar displayed remarkable skills after he piled up 69 runs off 82 balls and took India to victory with five balls to spare. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar together weaved a partnership of 83 runs off 87 for the 8th wicket. With this, Shikhar Dhawan & Co. defeated Sri Lanka by 7 wickets. This is Team India's ninth consecutive bilateral series win.

Netizens compare Chahar to Dhoni

Witnessing Chahar's power batting in India vs Sri Lanka match, several netizens said that they were reminded of former skipper MS Dhoni. Notably, Chahar has mentored under Dhoni's leadership under the Chennai Superkings (CSK) in IPL.