A professional chess player until the age of 13, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal talked about leaving the indoor sport early in order to pursue his dream of representing Team India on the cricket field. 

Chahal revealed it was only for his father that he took up chess and it was certainly quite difficult initially telling him about the exit route. 

"Chess but was more interested in cricket. Chess was mostly due to my father. I told my father in the end that once I play for India I will leave chess," Chahal told India Today before he was quick to also inform how his family, especially his father, accepted the decision to move to cricket. 

"I wanted to go to the ground since I was 7. Struggled a lot and so did my family," he added. "They never forced me to do something or to study, happy with passing marks. I used to cycle for 30 kms daily to reach the ground. Then my father made a wicket for me. Today I am whatever due to him."

The 29-year-old from Haryana has represented the country in 50 ODIs and 31 T20Is with 131 wickets in total since making his debut in June 2016.

Chahal has been "rested" from India's T20I set-up since the World Cup in UK where he struggled to come to the fore as India got eliminated after an 18-run loss in the semi-final to New Zealand.