Video Editor: Sandeep Suman
Camera: Abhishek Ranjan
Yuzvendra Chahal, who has spun out some of the world’s best batsmen since his India debut in 2016, has just returned from his first tour of England.
In an exclusive chat with The Quint, he spoke about scoring his maiden international boundary at Lord’s and about Dhoni taking the ball after the final ODI against England. he also spoke about his dreams of playing Test cricket.
Since playing his first game for India against Zimbabwe in 2016, Chahal has toured South Africa, Sri Lanka and now, England.
My first tour of England was quite good. When I was first selected to play in Zimbabwe, I was quite excited. It was an emotional moment to get the cap from Mahi bhai. Then after one year, I was named in the team for the England series at home. It was a good series for me. I won the man of the series award. Then I made a comeback in the Sri Lanka series. Since then, I have been playing for the last 5-6 months, so it feels good.Yuzvendra Chahal
After winning the ODI-series opener against the hosts, India lost the next two matches to lose their first bilateral one-day series against this opposition since 2011.
With this loss, India's streak of nine consecutive bilateral series' wins came to a halt. Chahal said it was the English batsmen’s performance in the final two games that made all the difference.
In the two ODIs that we lost, English batsmen Root and Morgan played well. In the final match, Kuldeep and I realised that they weren’t going to do too much because they weren’t under pressure.Yuzvendra Chahal
Chahal managed to pick just three wickets in the six games played in the T20 and ODI series. My performance “could have been better,” he admitted.
“The ODI and T20 series were good. Though, it could have been better.”
However, Chahal managed to make a major achievement during the Lord’s ODI – he finally crossed the 1-run mark in ODIs, scoring a 12 against England in the second game. He also scored his first international boundary at the coveted Lord’s stadium, and raised his bat as his teammates cheered him on from the dressing room.
Before I went out to bat, everyone was poking fun at me in the dressing room. They were teasing me, and saying things like, ‘wear a chest guard’. Before that, I’d never scored a boundary. And then I did it at Lord’s and that too a straight drive, so I was quite happy and everyone in the dressing room was also laughing. That’s why I raised my bat.Yuzvendra Chahal
The 27-year-old also put to rest rumours of Dhoni’s retirement – that had begun to make the rounds after the former India captain took the ball after the final ODI at Leeds.
“In the Lord’s ODI, most of the batsmen had already gotten out. And if Mahi bhai hadn’t scored 45, we would have got all out before only. When you don’t have batsmen, Mahi bhai can’t do much because he’s not getting support from the other end. In the third ODI, he only took the ball to show the coach. It’s not like he’s going to retire,” he said.
Captain Virat Kohli’s go-to man in the shorter format, Chahal has climbed to the top two in the ICC’s T20 bowler’s rankings. But the dream, he says, is still to play Test cricket.
Playing Test cricket is a dream. If the selectors give me a chance I would definitely love to play. I’m waiting for my call.
The ICC World Cup is coming up next year, and Chahal said that his experience playing in England will help him prepare for the tournament.
“I got a better idea of wickets in England. When we start preparing for England again, I’ll see how I want to bowl because the wicket there is bouncy and slow. So I will train according to that. But before that there are 3-4 series, so I’m going to focus on those,” he said.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)