File photo of Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal has been a dependable option for Virat Kohli’s Team India and Royal Challengers Bangalore as well. The 30-year-old wrist spinner's exploits — 140-odd wickets in less than 100 games — in the limited format of the game has been a testimony of his bowling prowess.
However, Test cricket is something that has always eluded the bowler as his bowling trajectory has been deemed surfeit for the longer format of the game, stopping purists from giving him the much-deserved accolade.
And with the Test tour to Australia pending after the Indian Premier League, one could wonder if Chahal comes up with another strong IPL, the doors of the Test side could open for him.
The bowler himself admitted that being part of the Test side is something he craves while mentioning that winning the World Cup with the Men in Blue is high up that list as well.
“Test cricket is the ultimate challenge for any player and is no different for me. The ultimate goal is of course to win the world cup for India but my personal goal remains to be representing India in Tests,” Yuzvendra told the Indiatvnews.com.
However, that doesn’t mean that in the quest for his personal goal, he has taken his eyes off maiden IPL title triumph target as he said his focus at the moment is on helping his side do well for the RCB.
“At the moment I just want to do well and contribute in any way I can for my team (RCB) whenever I get the chance to. I'm not even thinking too much about the purple cap as we are going for all,” said Chahal, who is also the brand ambassador of online fantasy gaming app Playing11.
Indeed, the best of the spinner is something the team will obviously require as the Bangalore outfit’s barren title run in the cash-rich league will now enter its 13th year. And Chahal feels they have a balanced side to make that happen.
“We have a very balanced side for this year’s IPL and we have made some great additions to our team. The addition of players like Aaron Finch will certainly give us more depth in the batting department,” he said.
Amid all this, the coronavirus pandemic has been heavily dominating the entire world, let alone cricket. Staying in a bio-secure bubble, spending most of the hours in isolation, regularly appearing for COVID-19 test is some of the stringent rules that have become a part of the tournaments. This has forced players to adapt to the challenging environment.
Chahal revealed that he has made his peace with this unprecedented situation.
“Training and living in the bubble is very different, but we are getting to practice & there's nothing more that is needed. These are not normal times and even before the positive cases inside the bubble, caution was of utmost importance. I am actually mentally prepared to be in the bubble till the situation all over gets back to normal,” said the spinner.
Talking on his association with Playing 11, owned by Saurabh Jha, Chahal said: “I'm very happy to be associated with Playing 11, fantasy gaming is growing very rapidly & playing 11 is a great stage for people/users to use their skill, create enthusiasm, fun from the comfort of your device.”
