Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma give me opportunity to play freely, states Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal has commented on the captaincy styles of both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma by saying that both of them give him the liberty to bowl freely and set his own field. Chahal has made a strong comeback in India's T20 side in the Bangladesh series and is now almost a certainty in the XI.
Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have been India's spin twins, especially in the ODI format for the past couple of years. But when it comes to T20I format, they did not appear in the XI as regularly as they would have liked. Both were dropped from India's T20I squad for the South Africa series with skipper Kohli stating that the team management is thinking of building a team that bats deep.
However, the inexperience in the Indian bowling was exposed and Chahal was then picked again for Bangladesh series and he just showed the Indian team what they were missing, picking up crucial wickets and helping India win the series 2-1. Chahal never looked rusty or out of rhythm even though having not played for about a month and he gave credit to domestic cricket for helping him stay in the rhythm while not playing for India.
"Whenever I am not playing for India, I make it a point to play domestic cricket," Chahal told Sportstar.
"You are playing against very good domestic sides, and now that we have qualified for the Super League (of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy), there are opportunities to play against some stronger sides like Karnataka. So, leading up to the international cricketing season, this experience will help for sure," he added.
Chahal and Kuldeep have hunted the opposition in pair and complemented each other really well but lately he has had to see the Indian team experimenting with spinners like Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, etc. and thus had that extra responsibility of being the only experienced spinner in the squad to perform when the team required him the most.
"I am bowling with Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja), Krunal (Pandya) and Rahul Chahar. It has been a good learning experience for me because, after two years, I am suddenly bowling with different people. Itâs a good challenge, so I would not say that thereâs any pressure.," Chahal asserted.
"As a professional player, you need to perform in every situation and I am just trying to continue whatever I did in the last two years," he further added.
Virat Kohli was rested for the Bangladesh series and thus Chahal had the chance to play under Rohit Sharma's captaincy. Having won 4 IPL titles with the Mumbai Indians, Rohit had proved that he is a good stand-in skipper whenever required and Chahal too mentioned it by comparing the styles of both the captains.
"They have a similar approach. Both of them give enough liberty to the bowlers. They back the bowlers to the hilt and give them the field placements they require, so there is not much of a difference. Maybe Virat is a bit more aggressive, Rohit isnât. The thinking is the same â give the players the liberty and win matches for the team. They have always given me the opportunity to play freely, without thinking about anything else. That has always been helpful.," Chahal revealed.
Chahal has almost cemented his place in India's white-ball cricket setup but he believes that he has the desire to play Test cricket for India. While it does not look likely to happen with the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep ahead of him in the pecking order, Chahal is still hopeful for playing in the whites someday.
"Everyone wants to play Test cricket. If someone refers to you as a âTest cricketerâ, you feel more proud, compared to T20Is or ODIs. Itâs my dream to play Test cricket for India someday," he concluded.
