R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja not left out at my expense, says Yuzvendra Chahal

R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja not left out at my expense, says Yuzvendra Chahal

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Yuzvendra Chahal has stated that R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were not left out of the limited overs squad at his, or even Kuldeep Yadav's expense. The team management has given more preference to the duo of Kuldeep and Chahal over the two veterans since June 2017, before Jadeja’s recent return.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were India’s go to spinners in limited overs cricket too, at least until the the tour of West Indies in 2017. The duo were dropped for the series in Sri Lanka that followed on the pretext of rest and thereby, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were picked. The duo has picked 153 wickets in total since then and the management did not again look towards the veteran duo. Ashwin is yet to don the blue colours since then but Jadeja did get a chance after all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s injury in late 2018 and grabbed it with both hands. Chahal feels that him and Kuldeep have been in the side because they have been playing well.

"There was no pressure on us. We got an opportunity and we grabbed it. There was a talk that Ashwin and Jadeja were left out at our expense. There's nothing like that. We were just doing our job. We are not close to them in terms of the number of wickets they have taken together. Comparing us to them is as unfair as comparing Virat to Sachin Tendulkar. Kuldeep and I enjoy every moment like you do when you sit for a final exam,” he said, reported Cricbuzz.

Both Chahal and Kuldeep are wicket-taking bowlers and have delivered consistently in the middle overs. Jadeja, on the other hand, is more of a restrictive bowler who bowls wicket to wicket. He is in the World Cup squad and Chahal has played along with him in the recent Asia Cup and even in the series against West Indies. The Haryana bowler pointed out that he is pretty comfortable while bowling with Jadeja too in partnerships.

“It's a professional game. You never know when I won't be there for Kuldeep or vice versa. The team will move on anyway. It doesn't matter if Jaddu bhaiyais playing. I have played enough with him. I know how Jaddu bowls and he is an experienced bowler. He guides me as well. You have to do your own thing and find a way, irrespective who you are playing with,” explained the 28-year-old.

It's not like that (a good partnership) it's limited to Kuldeep. Even if Jaddu bhaiya takes five wickets, we enjoy that,” he added.

Chahal has also played in the U-14 Chess World Cup but the upcoming Cricket World Cup in England and Wales will be his first major tournament for India in cricket. He was quick to point out that he does not regret choosing cricket over chess.

“I don't have any regrets but unn dino ki yaadein aati hain. (But I do think about those days). I have played good five-six years of chess. I have very fond memories. Representing India at the age of 14 is a big thing. I had to choose between cricket and chess because it would have been difficult to pursue both. You can put it this way that I had two per cent more interest in cricket,” he said.

Chahal also went on to say that how the experience in Chess has benefitted him with respect to cricket.

“Chess has helped me to be patient. Sometimes when I have an off day, I need to quickly switch to another plan and not panic. There are also days when you feel you are bowling really well but the wickets are not coming. Even then I need to calm myself down. In high-pressure games, you need to stay calm to understand what the batsmen could do,” he signed off.

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