Chahal will be a new face in India’s tour of Zimbabwe.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
It’s a new innings for Yuzvendra Chahal who has been included in the Indian cricket squad for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour.
The leg-spinner from Jind, Haryana, has another interesting story to tell apart from his cricket career. The 25-year-old was a top rated chess player as a teenager and had represented India in the Asian as well as world youth championships.
“Chess helps me in plotting the opposition batsman’s dismissal. I try to be one step ahead of the batsman, especially in T20 where the bowler has to think on his feet,” Chahal told The Times of India.
“When the batsman is going hard, I try to remain calm. My chess training helps me in staying focused with the job at hand,” he added.
Chahal developed an interest in both chess and cricket simultaneously when he was seven years old. Gradually, he concentrated on chess and won the under-12 national chess championship.
He represented India at the Asian Youth Championship held in Kozhikode, Kerala, and the World Youth Chess Championship in Greece.
Chahal, who had a FIDE rating of 1946 once, is still listed on the official website of the World Chess Federation. Unfortunately, he couldn’t continue as a chess player as he couldn’t bear the huge expenses associated with it.
To progress in chess, he needed about Rs 50 lakh per annum and couldn’t find sponsors. So, he had to abandon the game.
“He does play it as a hobby these days,” his father K K Chahal, was quoted as saying by Times of India.
Chahal is leading the bowling charts of the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year with 19 wickets from 11 matches. The star player of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has an average of 23.27 and an economy of 7.75.
His performance in the Champions League T20 final of 2013 paved his way into the RCB. Chahal took 2 for 9 in just 3 overs in the final against RCB leading to the victory of Mumbai Indians. RCB roped him to their team.