Did get confused but realized could not afford to be a bowler I never was: Yuzvendra Chahal | Cricket News – Times of India
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s omission from the T20 World Cup team created a stir in the cricket fraternity. Over the last four years, he was at the forefront of the wrist-spin revolution in white-ball cricket but India ended up barely using one in the World Cup. He lost out to fellow leggie Rahul Chahar for not bowling fast enough.
With every performance in the IPL post the axe, it seemed Chahal was trolling the national selectors. Now, he is back for the home series against New Zealand.
A day before he joined the bubble in Jaipur, Chahal spoke to TOI about the learnings of the past year and people’s perception about as a bowler.
Excerpts from an exclusive interview…
How did you overcome the setback of missing the T20 World Cup?
I was not dropped in four years and then I got dropped for such a marquee event. I felt really bad. I was down for two-three days. But then I knew the second leg of the IPL was still around the corner. I went back to my coaches and spoke to them a lot. My wife and family were constantly encouraging me. My fans kept putting out motivational posts. That buoyed me. I decided to back my strengths and overcome my confusion. I couldn’t have sulked for long because that would have impacted my IPL form.
You didn’t have much cricket to play due to the pandemic. How challenging was it to evolve or sustain, especially after having a good IPL in 2020?
It was always challenging. Whenever the seven-day quarantine comes in to get into a bio-bubble, the rhythm breaks. You have to start all over again in the three days of practice to come back. But we need to adjust. There is no other option in the pandemic. If you look at it, I took the most wickets after Shardul Thakur for India. Yes, my economy rate was on the higher side but it also depends on the situation you bowl in. I am not denying that I bowled poorly in a few games. But you need to give credit to the batters too.
You talked about economy rates. But you were brought in to get wickets, to attack. Did you think of becoming a defensive bowler, bowling quicker through the air?
The 250 wickets that I have got in T20 cricket, I got them because I stuck to my strengths. I can’t afford to become a bowler that I never was. I did get confused about how I should approach my bowling. But eventually, I decided to back myself.
The changing perception about the efficacy of wrist-spinners…
If you look closely at the T20 World Cup, wrist-spinners have done well. It’s wrong to say that the wrist-spinners have enjoyed their era in the past few years. They are still thriving in the World Cup in UAE. But I believe a good bowler — it doesn’t matter if he is a wrist or finger spinner — will always find a way to take wickets. It was also wrong to say only wrist-spinners can take wickets, but the finger spinners who have performed well have made it to the team.
The problem in our part of the world is we keep comparing finger and wrist spinners. Finger spinners have equal importance in plotting a wicket.
It seemed batters started reading you better. How much do you work on reading batters around the world?
I spend a lot of time on that. If you look at all the IPLs, I have always been one of the top spinners. It’s more of a mind game rather than reading. I am not a mystery spinner like Ajantha Mendis. Rashid Khan is in a different league. I believe he is a cut above the rest like we used to talk about Muralidharan sir or Shane Warne sir. My calling card is mindgame. I don’t try fancy variations. I back whatever variations I have.
You have shared a good rapport with Virat Kohli. But you and Rohit Sharma (new T20 captain) go back a long way since your Mumbai Indians days…
I have always had a special bond with Rohit. We are like family. Be it him or Ritika Bhabhi, they have always treated me like a younger brother. We always went out together for dinner. Whenever we are on the field, I always share my views with him like the time we got Kuldeep to bowl from a certain end to Babar Azam in the 2019 World Cup and got him out.
Our relationship is beyond our cricket. That helps on the field too when you trust someone so much. It’s always good to know that if I share something with him, there will be a positive response and vibe.
With every performance in the IPL post the axe, it seemed Chahal was trolling the national selectors. Now, he is back for the home series against New Zealand.
A day before he joined the bubble in Jaipur, Chahal spoke to TOI about the learnings of the past year and people’s perception about as a bowler.
Excerpts from an exclusive interview…
How did you overcome the setback of missing the T20 World Cup?
I was not dropped in four years and then I got dropped for such a marquee event. I felt really bad. I was down for two-three days. But then I knew the second leg of the IPL was still around the corner. I went back to my coaches and spoke to them a lot. My wife and family were constantly encouraging me. My fans kept putting out motivational posts. That buoyed me. I decided to back my strengths and overcome my confusion. I couldn’t have sulked for long because that would have impacted my IPL form.
You didn’t have much cricket to play due to the pandemic. How challenging was it to evolve or sustain, especially after having a good IPL in 2020?
It was always challenging. Whenever the seven-day quarantine comes in to get into a bio-bubble, the rhythm breaks. You have to start all over again in the three days of practice to come back. But we need to adjust. There is no other option in the pandemic. If you look at it, I took the most wickets after Shardul Thakur for India. Yes, my economy rate was on the higher side but it also depends on the situation you bowl in. I am not denying that I bowled poorly in a few games. But you need to give credit to the batters too.
You talked about economy rates. But you were brought in to get wickets, to attack. Did you think of becoming a defensive bowler, bowling quicker through the air?
The 250 wickets that I have got in T20 cricket, I got them because I stuck to my strengths. I can’t afford to become a bowler that I never was. I did get confused about how I should approach my bowling. But eventually, I decided to back myself.
The changing perception about the efficacy of wrist-spinners…
If you look closely at the T20 World Cup, wrist-spinners have done well. It’s wrong to say that the wrist-spinners have enjoyed their era in the past few years. They are still thriving in the World Cup in UAE. But I believe a good bowler — it doesn’t matter if he is a wrist or finger spinner — will always find a way to take wickets. It was also wrong to say only wrist-spinners can take wickets, but the finger spinners who have performed well have made it to the team.
The problem in our part of the world is we keep comparing finger and wrist spinners. Finger spinners have equal importance in plotting a wicket.
It seemed batters started reading you better. How much do you work on reading batters around the world?
I spend a lot of time on that. If you look at all the IPLs, I have always been one of the top spinners. It’s more of a mind game rather than reading. I am not a mystery spinner like Ajantha Mendis. Rashid Khan is in a different league. I believe he is a cut above the rest like we used to talk about Muralidharan sir or Shane Warne sir. My calling card is mindgame. I don’t try fancy variations. I back whatever variations I have.
You have shared a good rapport with Virat Kohli. But you and Rohit Sharma (new T20 captain) go back a long way since your Mumbai Indians days…
I have always had a special bond with Rohit. We are like family. Be it him or Ritika Bhabhi, they have always treated me like a younger brother. We always went out together for dinner. Whenever we are on the field, I always share my views with him like the time we got Kuldeep to bowl from a certain end to Babar Azam in the 2019 World Cup and got him out.
Our relationship is beyond our cricket. That helps on the field too when you trust someone so much. It’s always good to know that if I share something with him, there will be a positive response and vibe.
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