India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal feels it would be unfair to compare him and Kuldeep Yadav with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, a combination which has proved itself over the years. Chahal and Kuldeep collected three-wickets each in the 3rd and final ODI of the three-match series where India won by 8 wickets to win the series 2-1.
"Ashwin and Jadeja have done so much in the last 5-6 years. We have played only for four-five series. It is unfair to compare myself and Kuldeep with them," Chahal told reporters after the match.
"Our aim is to give our best when we go out and play. If you start comparing now itself to them, it will not be right. We have played most of our games in India, one series in Sri Lanka but the conditions were similar to India. We have not played overseas," he further said.
Of late, Ashwin and Jadeja, who are Test regulars, have lost out their places to Kuldeep and Chahal in India's limited overs side.
Chahal, who has so far turned out for the country in 17 ODIs and 12 T20 Internationals, said like everyone his dream was to play Test cricket but he wasn't thinking too much about it now and his focus was on the upcoming T20 series against Sri Lanka.
"Test cricket is everybody's dream. I played seven games in the Ranji Trophy last year. Before this, I had played just one or two games. When I played last year, I performed well and it gave me confidence that I could play at the highest level," he said.
"I have a habit of taking it one series at a time. I am not thinking about South Africa at all. My next focus will be the Twenty20 series," he added.
The Haryana leggie, who plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, said he had practised bowling at the death a lot during IPL matches and this showed on the ground.
"I have been bowling well in the death overs due to the IPL experience. The situation in the IPL after 13-14 overs remains the same in the ODI at this stage. I have practised and prepared a lot in the death overs and this shows in the ground," he said.
Asked about his control over speed, Chahal said one has to mix up pace in limited-overs cricket and the plan today was to do the same as it would make it tough for the rival batsmen.
"One has to mix-up pace in ODIs. If the batsman is batting well, variation is the key. From the end I was bowling, I was not getting that much turn. My plan was to vary my pace as it will become difficult for the batsman to score," he said.
About the forthcoming ODI series in South Africa, Chahal said he was looking forward to it, adding that there would be some extra bounce on those tracks.
"The wickets in South Africa will be good and flat but there will be some extra bounce. That is the plus point there. We have a break for a month after the T20I series and the focus will be to prepare on similar kind of wickets.
"I had played in South Africa for India 'A' but never played in the major venues. This time, we will be playing in those main grounds," he said.
He said having won all of the series he has featured for India, 2017 has been a memorable year for him.
"I had started from the England series and played in the series in Sri Lanka. I have played 4-5 series and we have won all of them which gives us the confidence. The team is bonding well. You can see it on the ground. We are enjoying ourselves. For me, it has been memorable," Chahal said.
Chahal refused to compare the captaincy styles of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
"One cannot compare both individuals. Virat's captaincy is different and so is Rohit's. Our main focus is on our bowling. We discuss the fielding positions. We can discuss things with Rohit and MS Dhoni also chips in. There was no such difference," he said.
Chahal termed the dismissal of Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Matthews to a ripper as ball of the match for him.
"I was getting some turn from the other end while bowling quickly or slowly. I was wanting to vary my pace. When you bowl flatter, the batsman thinks that the ball will not turn much. The ball to Mathews drifted in and turned away by which he played down the wrong line and got beaten. It was the ball of the match for me," Chahal signed off.
(With PTI Inputs)
