"The feeling of being called a Test cricketer is completely different"- Yuzvendra Chahal on his red-ball ambitions
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has more or less cemented his spot in Team India's white-ball setup. But like any other cricketer, even the 32-year-old dreams of playing Test cricket for India.
Chahal claimed that he has done really well for Haryana in the last few first-class games. But he was also honest about the fact that he hasn't played the longer format in about 3-4 years. The leg-spinner believes he has a lot of reflection to do before he sees himself as a contender in Tests.
Speaking to Sports Yaari, here's what Yuzvendra Chahal had to say about the thought of playing Test cricket for India:
"The feeling of being called a Test cricketer is completely different. In my last 10 first-class games I have fifty wickets. But the thing is that I haven't played first-class cricket for the past 3-4 years.
"So whenever the Ranji Season starts and if I get time to play for Haryana, I need to go back and clear my doubts as to whether I can bowl well."
"They comment just because they don't have anything else to do"- Yuzvendra Chahal on social media trolls
Yuzvendra Chahal has had to earn his place back in the Indian T20I team because he wasn't in the T20 World Cup squad last year. After a successful IPL 2022 season where he won the Purple Cap, Chahal didn't have the greatest of games in the first two T20Is against South Africa.
A good first win under the belt for us. Onto the next one 🇮🇳 https://t.co/ORiogindlr
Like any other cricketer, the leg-spinner was also trolled heavily on social media. But he has bounced back in style and has won the admiration of most fans. Speaking about whether these trolls affect cricketers mentally, Chahal stated:
"People who troll on social media are generally the ones with five followers and no DP. They comment just because they don't have anything else to do in life. So we don't pay attention to what happens on social media.
"You need to be mentally tough when you play for India. Even after a few bad performances, we back ourselves to bounce back."
Chahal is likely to be India's main wicket-taking option alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the Asia Cup due to the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.