Yuzvendra Chahal has been an integral part of India’s limited overs setup ever since he made his international debut, but in the last few months, the ace spinner has been going through a rough patch.
He was dropped from the T20 World Cup squad announced in September and then, despite a superb show in the second phase of the 2021 IPL, he wasn’t retained by his IPL side, Royal Challengers Bangalore, ahead of the upcoming mega auctions either.
In conversation with DRITI ATRI, YUZVENDRA CHAHAL spoke at length about World Cup heartbreak alongside his plans for the upcoming matches. Excerpts:
What was your reaction when you were dropped from the T20 World Cup squad?
I was completely shocked, and I was not expecting to be dropped when the team was announced for the mega event. I had no clue what the reason behind being dropped from the squad was, nor had I asked anyone about it.
How did you recover from that period?
It was my wife who really supported me during that tough time. When the team was announced, I was travelling to Dubai for the IPL. For a few days, I was a bit upset about it, but then I had to hold myself together as IPL was around the corner. I had to be prepared for that as well.
The next T20 World Cup is scheduled for 11 months from now? Are you expecting to be a part of it?
11 months is a really long time period. In between, there are going to be so many tournaments. Of course, I want to represent Team India in the T20 World Cup in 2022, but currently I’m more focused on the Vijay Hazare Trophy as I’m representing Haryana.
You have played under the guidance of both Dravid and Shastri. What is the difference in their coaching styles?
Both the coaches are not really different. Any player was really free to practise their own style. Most importantly, we have our own space in terms of gameplay. But Rahul Dravid is really calm and focused; personally, I can just go and ask for any guidance without giving it a second thought.
Were you expecting to be retained by RCB this year?
The team selectors just called me when they made this decision and told me that these are the three players who are being retained, and we will definitely go for you in the mega auction. I have not really planned anything yet, but anything can happen in this mega auction.
2 new teams will participate in the upcoming season. Are you looking forward to being part of them?
Every player will want to go back to their own team every year because of comfort. Though I am not thinking about the team selection right now, we are all professional players, and I just want to play and give my best, irrespective of which team I play for.
Virat stepped down from the RCB captaincy. Who do you think is the right man for the job now?
This auction is really big; all the players are going to shuffle. There will be a whole new team at RCB. Let’s see who’s in and who’s out. Then only can we be sure about the captaincy. But no matter who the captain is, Virat Bhaiya is on the ground and is always up for the guidance.
Do you connect more with Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma?
Both of them are pretty different from each other, but the only thing that matters is the game plan.
Both of them give you free will to perform. It is just the different strategy that they adopt; the goal is the same.