Yuzvendra Chahal, the best Indian leg-spinner and one of the best in the world in the current generation, is a part of his first T20 World Cup after missing out on selection in the 2021 edition.
While he has been India’s frontline spinner in shorter formats of the game for quite a while, his being dropped from the squad last year came as a surprise to the fans and experts alike.
“It felt like you have been preparing for an IAS-like exam for two years, but the exam couldn’t happen. And it was not in your hands. So I believe if something is not in my hands, I should not think about it, because if I keep thinking about it, it will affect my current matches.
“It obviously felt bad. I was completely down, as I was never dropped in last five years. I didn’t feel like having dinner that night. But my wife helped me a lot to get through it,” Chahal explained his emotions on the RCB Podcast.
Nevertheless, there were no further surprises, and Chahal was named in the squad for the eighth edition of the T20 World Cup. Though he is yet to play his first World Cup match as Ravichandran Ashwin was selected ahead of him in the opening match against Pakistan.
What an emotional game tonight.
The pride we play for.
A stunner of a performance by Virat kohli.
We march on together 🇮🇳🧿 pic.twitter.com/H5UIf3YwX3— Yuzvendra Chahal (@yuzi_chahal) October 23, 2022
Chahal’s journey to cricket has been interesting. The leg-spinner started his career in chess at a very young age owing to his father’s wish and also played the World Cup for India at the age of 10. But he felt a sense of freedom while playing cricket and wasn’t keen on continuing chess.
“I had to select one thing after a point in time, and my had dad told me that I can quit chess once I play for India. I couldn’t have done both things together, because chess needs 12-13 hours… So when I came back from the chess World Cup in 2003, I told my dad, ‘I played for you but I am not interested anymore. I want to play cricket now’.
“I wasn’t sure if I would do well, but I wanted to do it. Somehow I convinced my parents and played only one chess tournament after the world cup,” Chahal narrates his transition from chess to cricket.
However, chess taught Chahal quite a few life lessons, before he picked up cricket.
“I used to practice 14-15 hours daily for the World Cup. I would sleep only four-five hours a day. I learned that life is not so easy.
“I stayed away from home, right from the time when I was six-seven to the time I was 12. I used to stay at my uncle’s home who was also my coach. I didn’t like other kids goofing around and I was stuck with this. I didn’t have any special memories with family either,” Chahal explains on the podcast.
On Breakfast with Champions, Chahal also said that chess taught him to be patient. “I am mentally very strong. I can say chess gave me that thing because you need to be patient while playing chess. I have to sit for four hours without talking to anyone, so that helps me to concentrate.”
Before Chahal figured in serious professional cricket, he would practice at his farm and with the Haryana under-14 team.
“We have a 1.5–2 acre farm and there is some space on the side of it where dad set up two wickets. One was cemented and the other was rough. It helped me a lot. I could bat and bowl for as long as I would want.
“I was five or six. Dad was the Haryana Cricket Association vice president and selector as well. So the team for matches would be picked at our place. So I started going with the team to the matches. If they were to leave at 5, I would be ready at 4.30 in the morning and wait for someone to pick me up. I used to walk seven km when we went, but while coming back, one of the players would carry me on their back,” the leg-spinner narrated his childhood story on Breakfast with Champions.
Chahal’s promotion to the Haryana under-14 was also through an incident that seems destined and written in the stars as he narrates on the RCB Podcast.
Chahal’s father had denied his selection, reasoning that he was too young to compete with the elder boys.
Chahal used to travel with the Haryana under-14 team during the intra-state Pataudi tournament. In an interesting incident, his team was travelling in two separate cars (Tata Sumo) and one of the cars was punctured on the way.
The car in which Chahal was travelling had only 11 people including Chahal and hence, the coach forced him to play. Chahal, to everyone’s surprise, picked three wickets in that match and impressed the officials at the age of 10. Chahal was subsequently selected for the under-14 squad.
How IPL fast-tracked his Yuzvendra Chahal’s India debut
Chahal has not been a big name in Haryana’s First-Class setup but continued to dominate in the shorter formats. The Indian Premier League paved way for him to his international debut.
The leg-spinner made his India debut in June 2016 against Zimbabwe. This was the year when he had won the Purple Cap with Royal Challengers Bangalore.
“I won the Purple Cap. The team was going to be announced the next day, but I wasn’t expecting to be selected. I had performed well in IPL two years back as well, but I wasn’t selected then. I didn’t think about it at all.
“But my name was there on the BCCI site (press release). I checked if it was genuine with the BCCI logo and stuff. Once I realised, I cried a lot and kept looking at the press release,” Chahal said on Breakfast with Champions.
While Chahal is not goofing around on social media reels and live sessions of other players, he is one of the best leg-spinners in the current generation and it will be worthwhile to see him on the field this World Cup. But it seems like the wait will be a bit longer.
Trivia
Chahal is also an Income Tax inspector besides being an international chess and cricket player.
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