India wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has expressed his desire to continue playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) but he won't feel bad if some other franchise bags him in the upcoming mega auction, scheduled for February 12 and 13.
Chahal had joined RCB in 2014, after making his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians in 2011, and he played 113 matches for the Bangalore-based franchise. The 31-year-old picked up 139 wickets while playing for RCB with an economy rate of 7.58.
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However, RCB let Chahal go and retained the likes of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj ahead of the mega auction.
"The journey for eight years (with RCB) has been memorable. There is no right to match (which the franchise used to retain him in 2018) this time, so I will go to whoever pays the most for me. This is the first time where I might end up going to another team because there is no right to match. I am ready to go to any team. As a professional player, you should be ready to play for any team," Chahal said in a recent chat with R Ashwin on his YouTube channel.
"Obviously, I want to go to RCB again. But I won't feel bad if I go somewhere else. All of them have to build new teams. Whoever takes me, I have no problem. I will continue to give my 100 per cent. But yes, when you go to a new franchise, it takes a little time to adjust. But that's why we call ourselves professional players," he added.
Chahal is also not concerned about the amount he will get at the upcoming auction. "I don't want to say I want (INR) 15 crore or something, eight crore is enough for me."
Yuzvendra Chahal’s stats for RCB are quite impressive but it becomes even more remarkable given that he has played a major chunk of his IPL matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium – a venue considered tough for the bowlers for being small in size.
"I didn't have much experience (in 2014), and I had watched even very good spinners getting hit at that ground. Then Vettori sir told me, 'This is a small ground, as you know, so you have to go for wickets. If you give 30 runs in four overs, I want one wicket. If you go for 35 runs, I am happy with two wickets. If you go for 40, make sure you get three wickets. So I realised the importance of wickets on that ground," Chahal recalled his experience at Chinnaswamy.
"I asked him if I should stick to my strengths - I flight the ball, I vary my pace. He said, 'Yes, go for that'. I realised after the season that if you get a wicket, you get three-four dot balls after that," he added.
Chahal made it into the Indian team in 2016 on the back of his performance in that IPL season, where he claimed 21 scalps in 13 games.
"I think it's all because of RCB. They gave me a platform to prove myself. And once my journey started, when I got confidence as a bowler? I had played only a few Ranji Trophy matches (until then), but doing well in the IPL gave me confidence that I would be able to survive in this league," he stated.
"When I went to the training sessions, Vettori sir made me bowl in open nets. I got the first over. I got the 20th over. They made me bowl a lot to left-handers," he further said.
(With IANS inputs)
