Yuzvendra Chahal, while in conversation with India teammates Mayank Agarwal and Kuldeep Yadav on bcci.tv, revealed how MS Dhoni helped him get the better of Glenn Maxwell during Australia’s white-ball tour of India in 2017.

Chahal took a liking to Maxwell and dismissed him in the first three ODIs of the five-match series. The Australian was subsequently dropped for the final two matches of the series, which India won 4-1.

The leg-spinner’s ploy to bowl wide of the stumps worked against Maxwell but as Chahal revealed, Dhoni’s invaluable input did the trick.

“This is the third match of the series, it was in Indore,” Chahal said. “As Indore has short straight boundaries, my plan was to bowl him wide of the stumps. So actually me and Mahi bhai [Dhoni] had planned to bowl him wide of the stumps. And at this point, I was sure that he would charge down the pitch, so I bowled it even wider.

“Normally as well, I bowl outside the off stump. He [Maxwell] wasn’t showing much patience in this very series and every time I would come on to bowl, he’d try to attack me. So I had a conversation with Mahi bhai about it and he told me to mix things up and only bowl wide of the stumps when we’re sure that he is looking to step out.”

The plan worked perfectly, with Maxwell coming down the track and getting nowhere near the ball, and Dhoni completed the formalities.

Maxwell was recalled for the T20I series which followed the ODIs, but a change in format didn’t bring about a change in fortune as Chahal made it four dismissals in four innings in the first game of the rubber.