India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal said that he wants to be a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) but will be happy if any other franchise picks him.
Chahal was a part of the RCB squad since 2014 but he was retained by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auctions.
"The journey for eight years [with Royal Challengers] has been memorable. There is no right to match [which the franchise used to retain him in 2018] this time, so I will go to whoever pays the most for me. This is the first time where I might end up going to another team because there is no right to match. I am ready to go to any team. As a professional player, you should be ready to play for any team," Chahal told Ravichandran Ashwin on the latter's YouTube channel.
"Obviously, I want to go to RCB again. But I won't feel bad if I go somewhere else. All of them have to build new teams. Whoever takes me, I have no problem. I will continue to give my 100 per cent. But yes, when you go to a new franchise, it takes a little time to adjust. But that's why we call ourselves professional players," he added.
The leg spinner further praised batter Virat Kohli for showing belief and supporting him during his initial days in the frnachise.
"I realised that he [Kohli] had a lot of positive energy. He never tried to change me, he never asked me to bowl this way or that way. We always had two plans, and the first plan was always mine. He would tell me, 'You plan the way you want to bowl.' It helped me because I have to bowl, so it helped to think about it, [and] get the field I wanted," said the leg spinner.
"Sometimes I told him to set whatever field he wanted, so he said, 'Okay, I will make a couple of changes, you bowl the way you want'. That gives you confidence when a big player - your captain - supports you. In some matches when I gave away runs, he would come running from the boundary to tell me, 'No problem, you carry on, you will bounce back'. So that boosts you," he added.
Earlier, Chahal was a part of Mumbai Indians and in 2014 he moved to RCB.
In 113 matches for them, he has picked up 138 wickets at an economy rate of just over 7.50.
RCB have retained Virat Kohli, Mohammed Siraj, and Glenn Maxwell, ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction.
(Reported by ANI)
