Can Yuzvendra Chahal scale up and become Team India's trump card?

Leg-spin, a seemingly dying art in the previous decade, has suddenly become relevant, even in the smash and bang edition of the game. All three formats are seeing leggies get the nod, with teams going out all guns blazing with an attacking mindset, a well-thought out measure to combat the modern batsman. Yasir Shah, Imran Tahir, Adil Rashid, Adam Zampa, Ish Sodhi: each team is reserving one slot for these wrist spinners, who have the potential to devastate the best of line-ups.

It has been eight years since Anil Kumble’s retirement. Since 2008, there has been just one leg-spinner who has made his debut for the Test side. In limited overs, the likes of Rahul Sharma and Karn Sharma were tested, but none could live up to the promise.

A month before Anil Kumble made his Test debut for India, Yuzvendra Chahal was born in the small town of Jind in the heart of Haryana. 26 years hence, Chahal has emerged as one of the front-runners to carry forward the leg-spin baton for India in limited overs.

 

Only Indian to represent the nation in both cricket and chess

Cricket was, however, not the wiry leg spinner’s sport of preference. He represented India in world championships at junior levels in chess, and still features in the FIDE chess rankings with an overall tally of 1946 points. 

However, lack of a proper sponsor halted his charge in the Chess domain, and what looked like chess’ loss turned out to cricket’s gain.

He has attributed his ability to out-think the batsman to the board game, stating that the black and white pieces help him be “one step ahead of the batsman”, especially in the T20 format.

Seven years ago in the Cooch Behar trophy, being the leading wicket-taker, Chahal first came into prominence in the domestic circles. He made the transition to the Haryana first class team, but it has been slim pickings as far as the longer format is concerned. Hailing from the same state, Amit Mishra, being the experienced campaigner, gets the nod, and so does Jayant Yadav, the 26-year old off-spinner.

 

RCB attack’s lone ranger

Chahal helped give shape to a wayward RCB bowling attack

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s astonishing revival in the middle of the season is attributed mainly to Virat Kohli’s otherworldly form with the bat. While the team looked good on paper, half of the season went in figuring out what was right and who would fit. 

Injuries to Mitchell Starc and Samuel Badree before the start of the tournament depleted the bowling attack to such an extent that it felt as if even 200 was not a defendable target with their bowling resources.

With RCB chopping and changing things to get the flow going, Chahal was dropped from the starting XI. Yet, when faith was reinstated on his form, his efforts in the middle overs for the franchise paid rich dividends. Not afraid to toss the ball up and entice batsmen to the front foot, his loopy leg breaks accounted for 21 victims in 13 matches. He was the only leg-spinner to feature in the top-10 wicket-takers’ list. Correction, he was the only spinner in the top-10.

 

National team debut

It’s been long since the Indian team had the services of a genuine leg spinner. Of course, Amit Mishra has been the old warhorse since the beginning of this millennium, but has never looked as threatening as the bowlers from his species promise to be. Piyush Chawla has had his share of chances, but the UP-born lad hasn’t done enough of note for the national side.

In a group of young leg spinners that impress in an IPL season and fade away post that, Chahal has managed to stay in the reckoning for the past two-three years, regularly putting in the performances to be counted. 

The rewards of a fruitful performance for RCB were there for the taking, and Chahal got to travel with the Indian team earlier this year, and make his debut in Zimbabwe. His level-headedness and maturity, coupled with the passive aggressive ability to keep tossing up his leg breaks, helped him gather six wickets in his first three ODIs. And he looked the part in Indian colours throughout the tour.

 

Yet, the fate of other promising leg spinners in the past makes one wonder whether Chahal can continue to weave his magic for a prolonged period of time. Does he have the temperament to keep himself relevant in the longer format as well?

Maybe, all of this is a little early, for Chahal has just played a handful of matches for the country. Yet, the excitement of watching a budding talent ply his trade with confidence gives some respite to Indian fans who long to watch a leg spinner devastate batting line-ups with turn and guile.