Veteran India spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has revealed that he was a fast bowler during his school days, but he switched to leg spin on his father’s advice, who was a university-level cricketer himself as well. His father candidly told him that with his build he would not become a fast bowler. However, Chahal is considered one of India’s finest spinners in white-ball cricket. Having made his international debut in 2016, he has played 72 ODIs and 75 T20Is for India, claiming 121 and 91 wickets, respectively.
In an interview on Ranveer Allahbadia’s YouTube channel, he revealed: “Earlier, I was a fast bowler in school. I am talking about when I was 6-7 years old. Dad used to play for a university. In fact, he was even university captain for five years. I was a fast bowler, but dad told me, ‘is build ke saath to nahi hoga’ [you cannot become one with this build]. Then, I started bowling leg-spin. It’s not like I saw someone, it just happened automatically. I started bowling leg-spin from the age of 8. When I was 10 years old, I played U-14 for the first time for Haryana. From there, professional cricket started. It’s been like 23 years now.”
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However, apart from playing for India, Yuzvendra Chahal is also the leading wicket-taker in the IPL. In 145 matches, he has picked up 187 wickets which came at an average of 21.69. During the interaction, Chahal also revealed that he once bowled off-spin against Sri Lanka at the request of MS Dhoni since a left-hander was batting as well.
He recalled: “I have bowled off-spin as well in international cricket. Mahi bhai [MS Dhoni] told me to do it once. In 2017, we were playing in Sri Lanka and a left-hander was batting. He asked me whether I can bowl off-spin in between. I replied that I haven’t even bowled it in the nets. He still told me to try it. I bowled a couple of deliveries and then said let it be.”
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“Bowling off-spin suddenly in international cricket is not easy. The body gets tight because you think a lot and are under pressure. That short ball happens because of this,” Yuzvendra Chahal.
However, he will next be seen in action during India’s white-ball leg of the West Indies tour, which begins with the first ODI on July 27 as well.
