IPL 2019 | RCB is like family and I want to play for it throughout my life, says Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal has stated that the Royal Challengers Bangalore team is like a family to him and he wants to play for the Indian Premier League side throughout his life. The leg-spinner had played only one match for Mumbai Indians in 2013 but has been a regular for RCB since 2014.
Yuzvendra Chahal had made his debut in the Indian Premier League way back in 2013 for Mumbai Indians but only played one match throughout the season. In the 2014 edition, he was drafted in to Royal Challengers Bangalore and has been a regular feature in the team since then. The leg-spinner has scalped the highest 96 wickets in 79 matches for RCB and even went on to play for India on the back of his performance for the Bengaluru-based franchise. He has opened up on how much the franchise means to him.
“It’s like a family to me, when I came here in 2014 I never thought that I’ll play for this franchise. I really enjoy when I come to Bengaluru and I only want to play for RCB in the IPL throughout my life,” said Chahal, reported ANI.
RCB has never won a trophy in the cash-rich league but they have been the runners-up for three times now, the last being in the 2016 edition. In spite of the failure to win a trophy, it is a known fact that the presence of superstars like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers has made it a fan favourite. The crowd at M Chinnaswamy Stadium has always been supportive of the home side and have appeared in large numbers throughout the years. Chahal has stated that, over the years, he has learnt to concentrate on the game despite the loud noise and cheers.
“When you play at Chinnaswamy Stadium, it is very loud and the crowd is always supporting you. But whenever I bowl I just try to focus on my game and my situation like where to bowl, so I am used to it now and it is nothing new for me,” the 28-year-old explained.
Even in the current season, the Haryana player has been the side’s premier bowler as he has scalped the highest 14 wickets. Naturally, he has the skipper Kohli and management’s backing and was ecstatic about the same.
“Obviously you feed good, you get more confidence when your captain backs you and your team management gets behind you. You always want to go for wickets, nothing happens if you go for runs as the captain is constantly looking for wickets, so it is a great feeling for me,” he expressed.
The Gary Kirsten-coached side has traditionally been a batting-heavy side, but their bowling attack is what that has let them down. The side had let go of seam all-rounder Chris Woakes and got in Marcus Stoinis as a replacement. There were no other changes with respect to the bowling attack, but Dale Steyn was drafted in as an injury replacement for Nathan Coulter Nile. Prior to the South African quick’s entry in this season, despite setting a target in excess of 200 twice against Kolkata Knight Riders, the target was chased down once, while it was a nail-biting finish in the other encounter. Chahal felt singling out a player would be wrong, but pointed out towards the fact that the bowlers have ample experience of international cricket.
“I think even in the last year we had the same bowlers, we did well but if someone is not performing well for two to three games, you cannot blame the player. I think all the bowlers that we have in our squad, have played international matches so they the talent and the skills to play this level of cricket,” he remarked.
Chahal also shared that he was privileged to share the dressing room with modern legends of the game like the India skipper Kohli and former Proteas’ skipper de Villiers.
“They are two legends: One is a number one batsman (Kohli) and the other has retired but he is a 360-degree player (AB de Villiers) so it is a privilege to play alongside them,” asserted the World Cup-bound player.
The IPL is scheduled to get over on May 12, whereas India will play their first warm-up game of the quadrennial event against New Zealand on May 25. Thereby, the workload management of the players was the most talked about topics before the start of the cash-rich league, but Chahal has dismissed all such arguments. He believes that the 14 games of the league stage are a perfect build-up to the marquee event.
“Before the World Cup, you have 14 matches and it’s a good chance to prepare for the World Cup as you play along with the best players across the globe and if you perform in this tournament you go into the international matches with more confidence,” he signed off.
0
0
0
0
0
0
Comments
Sign up or log in to your account to leave comments and reactions
0 Comments